And it so happened as Earl William said: For Earl Robert of Artois persisted to march forward against the Soldan, vainly hoping to win all the glory to himself, before the coming up of the main body of the host. His first enterprize was ordering an attack on a small castle, or fortified village, called Mansor; whence a number of the villagers ran out, on seeing the approach of the Christians, making a great outcry, which came to the ears of the Soldan, who was much nearer with his army than had been supposed. In the mean time, the Christians made an assault on Mansor with too little precaution, and were repulsed with considerable loss, many of them being slain by large stones, thrown upon them as they entered the place; by which the army not only lost a considerable number of men, but was much dispirited by this unexpected repulse.
Immediately on the back of this discomfiture, the Soldan came in sight with his whole army; and seeing the Christians in this divided state, brother separated from brother, joyfully seized the opportunity he had long wished for, and inclosing them on all sides, that none might escape, attacked them with great fury. In this situation, the Earl of Artois sore repented of his headstrong rashness, when it was too late; and, seeing Earl William Longespee fighting bravely against the chief brunt of the enemy, he called out to him in a cowardly manner to flee, as God fought against them. But William bravely answered, "God forbid that my father's son should flee from the face of a Saracen." Earl Robert turned out of the fight, and fled away, thinking to escape from death or captivity by the swiftness of his horse; and taking the river Thafnis13, sank through the weight of his armour, and was drowned. On the flight of Earl Robert, the French troops lost heart, and began to give ground: But William Longespee, bearing up manfully against the whole force of the enemy, stood firm as long as he was able, slaying and wounding many of the Saracens. At length, his horse being killed, and his legs maimed, he fell to the ground; yet he continued to mangle their legs and feet, till at last he was slain with many wounds, being finally stoned to death by the Saracens. After his death, the Saracens set upon the remainder of the army, which they had surrounded on every side, and destroyed them all, so that scarce a single man remained alive. Of the whole, only two templars, one hospitaller, and one common soldier escaped, to bring the melancholy tidings to the king of France. Thus by the imprudent and foolish rashness of Earl Robert, the French troops were utterly discomfited, and the valiant English knight overpowered and slain, to the grief of all the Christians, and the glory of the Saracens; and, as it afterwards fell out, to the entire ruin of the whole French army.
CHAPTER XXI.
Discovery of Madeira14
Although the Era of modern discovery certainly commenced under the auspicious direction of Don Henry of Portugal, who first conceived and executed the sublime idea of extending the knowledge and commerce of the globe, by a judicious series of maritime, expeditions expressly for the purpose of discovery; yet as Madeira is said to have been visited, and the Canaries were actually discovered and settled before that era, it appears necessary to give a previous account of these discoveries, before proceeding to the second part of this work.
Several authors have left accounts of the real or pretended original discovery of this island of Madeira, all of whom concur in asserting that it was first discovered by an Englishman. Juan de Barros, the Livy of Portugal, mentions it briefly in the first decade of his Asia. The history of this discovery was written in Latin, by Doctor Manoel Clemente, and dedicated to Pope Clement V. Manoel Tome composed a Latin poem on the subject, which he intitled Insulana. Antonio Galvano mentions it in a treatise of discoveries, made chiefly by the Spaniards and Portuguese previously to the year 155015. Manoel de Faria y Sousa, the illustrious commentator of Camoens, cites Galvano in illustration of the fifth stanza in the fifth book of the immortal Lusiad, and likewise gives an account of this discovery in his Portuguese Asia. But the earliest and most complete relation of this discovery was composed by Francisco Alcaforado, who was esquire to Don Henry the infant or prince of Portugal, the first great promoter of maritime discoveries, and to whom he presented his work. No person was more capable of giving an exact account of that singular event than Alcaforado, as he was one of those who assisted in making the second discovery. His work was first published in Portuguese by Don Francisco Manoel, and was afterwards published in French at Paris in 167116. From this French edition the following account is extracted, because the original Portuguese has not come to our knowledge, neither can we say when that was printed; but as the anonymous French translator remarked, that "Don Francisco keeps the original MS. with great care," it may be concluded, that the Portuguese impression did not long precede the French translation. The French translator acknowledges that he has altered the style, which was extremely florid and poetical, and has expunged several useless and tedious digressions, etymologies, reflections, and comparisons; but declares that he has strictly presented, the truth and substance of the history, so as not to vary from it in the least, or to omit the smallest material circumstance.
It is remarkable that there is no mention whatever in any of the English histories of Machin, Macham, or Marcham, the supposed author of this discovery; so that Hakluyt was beholden to Antonio Galvano for the imperfect account he gives of that transaction17. By the following abstract the complete history becomes our own, and we shall be no longer strangers to an event which has for several ages, rendered an Englishman famous in foreign countries, while wholly unknown in his own. It must not, however, be omitted to observe, that some objections may be stated against the authenticity of this history, on account of certain circumstances which do not quadrate with the time assigned for Machin's voyage by the author. From these it is obvious, either that the relation given by Alcaforado is not genuine, or that it has been interpolated. How far this objection may be admitted, without prejudice to the authority of the whole story, must be left to the judgment of our readers; we shall only add, that so far as relates to Macham it agrees with the tradition of the inhabitants of Madeira.
13
This is probably meant for that branch of the Nile which they had previously crossed on their way to Mansor. –E.
14
Astley, I. 11. and 586. Clarke, Progress of Maritime Discovery, I. 167. Although in our opinion a mere romance, we have inserted this story, because already admitted into other general collections. –E.
15
This work was printed in 1560, and was translated by Hakluyt: There is an abstract of it in Purchas his Pilgrims, II. 1671, and it will be found at the commencement of the second part of this Collection. –E.
16
In small duodecimo and large print, under the title of Relation Historique de la Decouverte de l'Isle de Madere: containing 185 pages, besides twelve pages of preface. –Clarke.