The following list of the royal navy of England, as left in good condition by Queen Elizabeth at her death in 1603, was written by Sir William Monson, a naval officer of that and the two following reigns, "By which, he observes, she and her realm gained honour, by the exploits and victories they and her subjects obtained." It would occupy too much space to give a contrasted list of the royal navy in the present year, 1813; but which our readers can easily obtain from the monthly lists published at London.
Names of Ships, Tonnage (Men in Harbour, Men at Sea, Of which Mariners/Sailors/Guns)
Elizabeth-Jonas, 900 (30 500 340396/120396/40)
Triumph, 1000 (30 500 340/120/40)
White Bear, 900 (30 500 340/120/40)
Victory, 800 (17 400 268/100/32)
Ark Royal, 800 (17 400 268/100/32)
Mere Honour, 800 (17 400 268/100/32)
St Matthew, 1000 (30 500 340/120/40)
St Andrew, 900 (17 400 268/100/32)
Due Repulse, 700 (16 350 230/90/30)
Garland, 700 (16 300 190/80/30)
Warspite, 600 (12 300 190/80/30)
Mary-Rose, 600 (12 250 150/70/30)
Hope, 600 (12 250 150/70/30)
Bonaventure, 600 (12 250 150/70/30)
Lion, 500 (12 250 150/70/30)
Nonpareille, 500 (12 250 150/70/30)
Defiance, 500 (12 250 150/70/30)
Rainbow, 500 (12 250 150/70/30)
Dreadnought, 400 (10 200 130/50/20)
Antilope, 350 (10 160 114/30/16)
Swiftsure, 400 (10 200 130/50/20)
Swallow, 380 (10 160 114/30/16)
Foresight, 300 (10 160 114/30/16)
Tide, 250 (7 120 88/20/12)
Crane, 200 (7 100 76/20/12)
Adventure, 250 (7 120 88/20/12)
Quittance, 200 (7 100 76/20/12)
Answer, 200 (7 100 76/20/12)
Advantage, 200 (7 100 70/20/12)
Tiger, 200 (7 100 70/20/12)
Tremontain, – (6 70 52/10/8)
Scout, 120 (6 66 48/10/8)
Catis, 100 (5 60 42/10/8)
Charles, 70 (5 45 32/7/6)
Moon, 60 (5 40 30/5/5)
Advice, 50 (5 40 30/5/5)
Spy, 50 (5 40 30/5/5)
Merlin, 45 (5 35 26/4/5)
Sun, 40 (5 30 24/2/4)
Synnet397, 20 (2 –)
George Hoy, 100 (10 –)
Penny-rose Hoy, 80 (8 –)
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH TO THE EAST INDIES, BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EXCLUSIVE COMPANY
INTRODUCTION.
We now begin to draw towards India, the following being the first voyage we know of, that was performed to that country by any Englishman. Though Stevens was only a passenger in the ship of another nation, yet the account he gave of the navigation was doubtless one of the motives that induced his countrymen to visit India a few years afterwards in their own bottoms. Indeed the chief and more immediate causes seem to have been the rich caraks, taken in the cruizing voyages against the Spaniards and Portuguese about this time, which both gave the English some insight into the India trade, and inflamed their desire of participating in so rich a commerce.
The account of this voyage is contained in the following letter from Thomas Stevens, to his father Thomas Stevens in London: In this letter, preserved by Hakluyt, several very good remarks will be found respecting the navigation to India, as practised in those days; yet no mention is made in the letter, as to the profession of Stevens, or on what occasion he went to India. By the letters of Newberry and Fitch399, which will be found in their proper place, written from Goa in 1584, it appears that he was a priest or Jesuit, belonging to the college of St Paul at that place; whence it may be concluded that the design of his voyage was to propagate the Romish religion in India. In a marginal note to one of these letters, Hakluyt intimates that Padre Thomas Stevens was born in Wiltshire, and was sometime of New College Oxford. He was very serviceable to Newberry and Fitch, who acknowledge that they owed the recovery of their liberty and goods, if not their lives, to him and another Padre. This is also mentioned by Pyrard de la Val, who was prisoner at Goa in 1608, at which time Stevens was rector of Morgan College in the island of Salcet400." –Astley.
*****
After most humble commendations to you and my mother, and craving your daily blessing, these are to certify you of my being alive, according to your will and my duty. I wrote you that I had taken my journey from Italy to Portugal, which letter I think came to your hands, in which hope I have the less need to tell you the cause of my departing, which in one word I may express, by naming obedience. I came to Lisbon towards the end of March, eight days before the departure of the ships, so late that, if they had not been detained about some important affairs, they had been gone before our arrival; insomuch that others were appointed to go in our stead, that the kings intention and ours might not be frustrated. But on our sudden arrival, these others did not go, and we went as originally intended.
The 4th of April, five ships departed for Goa, in which, besides mariners and soldiers, there were a great number of children, who bear the sea much better than men, as also do many women. I need not tell you, as you may easily imagine the solemnity of setting out, with sound of trumpets and discharges of cannon, as they go forth in a warlike manner. The 10th of the same month we came in sight of Porto Sancto near Madeira, where an English ship set upon ours, now entirely alone, and fired several shots which did us no harm: But when our ship had run out her largest ordnance, the English ship made away from us. This English ship was large and handsome, and I was sorry to see her so ill occupied, as she went roving about the seas, and we met her again at the Canaries, where we arrived on the 13th of the same month of April, and had good opportunity to wonder at the high peaked mountain in the island of Teneriffe, as we beat about between that island and Grand Canary for four days with contrary winds, and indeed had such evil weather till the 14th of May, that we despaired of being able to double the Cape of Good Hope that year. Yet, taking our course between Guinea and the Cape de Verd islands, without seeing any land at all, we arrived at the coast of Guinea, as the Portuguese call that part of the western coast of Africa in the torrid zone, from the lat. of 6° N. to the equinoctial; in which parts they suffer so much by extreme heats and want of wind, that they think themselves happy when past it. Sometimes the ships stand quite still and becalmed for many days, and sometimes they go on, but in such a manner that they had almost as good stand still. The atmosphere on the greatest part of this coast is never clear, but thick and cloudy, full of thunder and lightening, and such unwholesome rain, that the water on standing only a little while is full of animalculae, and by falling on any meat that is hung out, fills it immediately with worms.
All along that coast, we oftentimes saw a thing swimming in the water like a cocks comb but much fairer, which they call a Guinea ship401. It is borne up in the water by a substance almost like the swimming bladder of a fish in size and colour, having many strings from it under water, which prevent it from being overturned. It is so poisonous, that one cannot touch it without much danger. On this coast, between the sixth degree of north latitude and the equator, we spent no less than thirty days either in calms or contrary winds. The 30th of May we crossed the line with great difficulty, directing our course as well as we could to pass the promontory402, but in all that gulf of Guinea, and all the rest of the way to the Cape, we found such frequent calms that the most experienced mariners were much astonished. In places where there always used to be horrible tempests, we found most invincible calms, which were very troublesome to our ships, which being of the greatest size cannot go without good winds; insomuch that when it is almost an intolerable tempest for other ships, making them furl all their sails, those large ships display their sails to the wind and sail excellent well, unless the waves be too furious, which seldom happened in our voyage. You must understand that, when once past the line, they cannot go direct for the Cape the nearest way, but, according to the wind, must hold on as near south as they can till in the latitude of the Cape, which is 35° 30' S. They then shape their course to the east, and so get round the Cape. But the wind so served us at 33 degrees, that we directed our course thence for the Cape.
396
The difference between mariners and sailors is not obvious: Perhaps the former were what are now called ordinary, and the latter able seamen. Besides, the numbers of both these united, do not make up the whole compliment of men at sea: Perhaps the deficiency, being 40 in the largest ships of this list, was made up by what were then called