several resolutions. First, that Francis Ashbie should be sent to Deptford to Mr. Genson, for his letters to Peter Pet to set about rigging the Minion, at the charges of the queen. After which he was to repair to Gellingham, with money to defray the adventurers' charges there. Second, that each of the five partners should call upon their partners to advance, towards new rigging and victualling, £29 10s. 6d. out of every hundred. Third, that each of the five partners should deposit fifty pounds towards the said occasions. Fourth, in case Mr. Genson gave his consent that the Merlin should be brought round from Bristol to Hampton, that a letter should be obtained under his hand before order was given for the same."

A few leagues from port this expedition was encountered by the one under Hawkins, afterwards Sir John, who was making his second voyage to the West Indies, in command of the Jesus, of Lubec, and three other ships. The squadrons saluted each other, when the Minion put back to ascertain the reason why the Merlin lagged so far behind. A storm came on and separated the ships, and Hawkins putting into Ferrol, in Spain, was joined by the Minion, from whom he learned the accident that had happened to the Merlin. Through carelessness her magazine had exploded, killing several men, and shattering her so that she soon sunk. Her crew were fortunately saved by a brigantine which happened to be

near.

Both squadrons left Ferrol together, and kept company together until they came within sight of Teneriffe, when the Minion and John Baptist stopped at the islands, and the Jesus and her companions stood on their course to the West Indies.

Hawkins afterwards learned from Captain Bon Temps, of the Green Dragon, a French vessel, which had met the Minion on the coast of Guinea, that the ships were driven off by the Portuguese galleys, that Captain Carlet, with his boat's crew, had been betrayed by the negroes into the hands of the Portuguese, by whom they were made prisoners, and that the ships had lost so many men from the climate and from the want of fresh water, that it was doubtful if those that remained would be strong enough to work the vessels home, so that the voyage was a complete failure.

The progress of English commercial enterprise had by this time fully aroused the jealousy of the Spanish and Portuguese, who were now united under one government, and all possible means were resorted to to prevent the extension of their trade. The Spaniards are accused of having recourse to all kinds of fraud when force would not answer, and with violating without scruple the most solemn oaths and engagements. But as these are all exparte statements, they must be received with some grains of allowance; or rather they must be considered in connection with the violence and injustice with which in many instances the faults of the Spaniards were repaid. All merchant ships had to go armed, until at last, as the editor of Astley states, "the resentment of the nation being inflamed by their repeated treacheries and depredations, they began to send out fleets on purpose to annoy their coasts and disturb their navigation." Nothing is in this intimated of the irresistible temptation to plunder afforded by the rich Spanish treasure-ships, which generally fully repaid, if it did not induce, most of the maritime expeditions of the English.

Hakluyt gives the translation of an order of the Spanish king, apprising the governors of the different provinces, that it was his intention to fit out a great fleet in the Tagus, and directing them to seize with all

secrecy and dissimulation upon any vessels that were then, or might be afterwards, upon the coast or in the ports belonging to Holland, Ireland, Germany, England, and other provinces in rebellion against him, and upon their goods, arms, and munitions.

The enforcement of this order gave occasion to the crew of an English merchant vessel to perform a feat, which is perhaps worthy of notice. The account is to be found in Astley, and is justly entitled "The gallant behavior and escape of the Primrose, of London, from Bilboa, in Biscay."

This vessel, the Primrose, of one hundred and fifty tons, arrived off Bilboa on the twenty-fifth of May, 1585, and was immediately boarded by the corregidor of the province, and six others seeming to be merchants. They brought with them some spirit, and were very polite and courteous in their demeanor to Mr. Foster, the master, who entertained them very politely in return. His suspicions were however excited by the return of two or three of the party to the shore, but he did not choose to exhibit any distrust before his remaining guests, although "he told his mind to some of his ship's crew." In a short time there came towards them a ship's boat containing seventy persons, merchants and others, and a little astern another with twenty-four persons. They came up alongside, and the corregidor, with three or four men, stepped on board. Mr. Foster requested that no more might be allowed to come on board, which was readily promised, but in a moment or two the Spaniards poured in after their leaders, with their rapiers and other weapons.

ner.

They immediately took possession of every thing in a tumultuous manSome planted themselves under the deck, some entered the cabins, and others looked about for their prey. Then the corregidor, having an officer with him who bore a white rod in his hand, spoke thus to the master of the ship: "Yield yourself, for you are the king's prisoner." Hereupon the master said to his men, "We are betrayed." Forthwith some of the Spaniards set daggers to his heart, making a show as if they would kill him, which put him into a terrible consternation, as well as the ship's crew, who concluded they should all be instantly slain. Their interest however was not to murder, but to bring them to shore. However, some of them, roused by the danger they saw the master was in, and reflecting that they could hope for nothing but present death if once they landed among the Spaniards, resolved to rescue themselves out of their hands, or die in the attempt.

"This resolution was no sooner taken, but they immediately laid hold of the javelins, lances, boar-spears, and fire-arms which they had set in readiness before, encouraging one another to exert their valor. They had five calivers ready charged, which was all their small shot. Of a sudden, those that were under the hatches let fly at the Spaniards, who were over their heads, which so amazed them that they could hardly tell which way to run, imagining that the English were much better provided with powder and shot than was the case. Others dealt about them so courageously with their cutting weapons, that they disabled two or three Spaniards at every stroke. Hereupon some of them desired the master to command his men to hold their hands, but he answered that such was the resolution of the English in their own defence, that they would slay them and him too if he should propose the thing to them.

"By this time their blood ran in streams about the ship; some of them were shot in between the legs, the bullets issuing forth at their breasts

others had their heads cloven by swords, others were thrust through the body with pikes, and many of the rest grievously wounded, so that they began to run out faster than they came in. Such was their hurry and confusion in endeavoring to escape, that they rather tumbled or threw themselves overboard with their weapons in their hands, than went offsome falling into the sea, and others getting into the boats and making all the haste they could towards the city; and this is to be noticed, that although a great number of them came thither, only a small company of them returned. Of the English only one was killed and six hurt. After all, it was dismal to behold how the Spaniards lay swimming in the sea, and were not able to save their lives."

Thus was the Primrose cleared of her treacherous visiters; and if we consider that they were as four to one, well armed, and had actual possession, it must be allowed that it was an exceedingly gallant achievement-one that can hardly be surpassed by any thing in the annals of the military marine. It is not, however, the only instance of the kind that the merchant service has to boast. The gallantry of the English and American commercial marine would fill volumes of exciting and brilliant adventure.

Of the miserable Spaniards driven overboard from the Primrose, four were saved by the English, among whom was the corregidor, who was governor of one hundred cities and towns, and who had about him the king's secret order under which he had made the attempt to seize the ship. He offered large sums to be put on shore, but Foster would not consent, and he was taken a prisoner to England, where the Primrose safely arrived in June.

In 1588, a voyage was made to Benin, beyond Guinea, an account of which was written by the master, James Welsh. It is the last of the early African voyages of the English that we can notice, as the voyages to the East Indies, the first of which was performed the year after, will demand our attention in the next chapter.

The expedition was got up by Bird and Newton, two London merchants, and consisted of the Richard, of one hundred tons, and a pinnace. Starting on the twelfth of October, they were weather-bound for several weeks and did not get fairly to sea until December. On the second of January they came in sight of the African coast near the Rio del Oro; the eighteenth they were off Cape Mesurado, and on the fourteenth of Februa ry they anchored in the river Benin, now known to be one of the mouths of the Niger. Here they anchored in the road, as there was not enough water to carry the vessel over the bar, and sent the pinnace and boat, into which they had transferred the principal part of their merchandise, up the river to a place called Gotto. From thence they sent up negroes to the city of Benin, to apprise the king of their coming, and their desire to trade. He directed them to come up to court, and sent two hundred negroes to carry their goods, as the pinnace could get no further by water.

Arrived at court, they were at first prevented from seeing the king on account of a religious feast, but they received every assurance of friendship. On the first of March they were admitted to the king's presence, who made a courteous answer to their demand as to traffic. Next day there were sent twelve baskets of pepper, and a little every day until the ninth of March, when they had collected sixty-four cerons of pepper, and twenty-eight elephant's teeth, with which the pinnace went off to the ship.

By this time the climate began to show its usual effects, and the master and all of the crew of the pinnace were sick. On the thirteenth the pinnace again returned from an expedition up the river, bringing some elephant's teeth and a hundred and fifty more cerons or sacks of pepper.

The sickness had now made such progress that they were compelled to give up the trade and start for home with such pepper and teeth as they had obtained. "At coming away, the veadore or governor of the city of Benin, told them that if they could stay any longer, he would use all possible expedition to bring in more commodities. But the sickness so increased and continued, that by the time the rest got on board, so many of the ship's company were sick and dead that none of them expected to get home alive, but to leave their ship and bones behind. It was with the greatest difficulty that they could get up their anchors, but having done it at last, they left the pinnace and set sail homeward."

On leaving the coast the men began to recover, but in passing the Cape de Verds they were taken worse, and had they not luckily met with a bark belonging to the same owners, from which they had six men, they would not have been able to work their way home.

The history of this voyage is the history of a thousand that have been made since to that most dangerous gulf, the Bight of Benin. Many of them have however been much more disastrous, and there have been instances where whole crews have been swept off within a few days, leaving not a single officer or man to take charge of the ship. The disastrous results of the recent British expedition up the Niger prove the virulence of the climate at the present day.

In 1590 the same master made a second voyage to Benin, taking out a cargo of broadcloths, kersies, baize, linen, iron, bracelets of copper, coral, hawk-bells, horse-tails, hats, &c., and bringing home five hundred and eighty-nine sacks of pepper, one hundred and fifty elephant's teeth, and thirty-two barrels of palm oil.

In this voyage they suffered less from the climate than in the first, which was partly attributed by the captain to a way he had of preserving his water fresh; so that the water that came from the river Benin on the first of April, 1591, was perfectly sweet in June, 1592. The secret however is not explained.

ART. VI.-CONSTRUCTION AND FIRST VOYAGE OF THE GRIFFIN;

A VESSEL BUILT BY LA SALLE AND HIS COMPANIONS IN 1679, NEAR THE FALLS OF NIAGARA AND WHICH SAILED FROM THENCE TO GREEN BAY, AND WAS LOST ON HER RETURN VOYAGE. TAKEN FROM THE NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNESSIN.

To the Editor of the Merchants' Magazine:

In an old French work in my possession, printed in 1698, entitled, “An account of the discovery of a very great country situated in America," by Father Hennessin, I find an account of the building of the first vessel that navigated the waters of the western lakes.

I am aware that Father Hennessin has been charged by Charlevoix, and subsequent writers, on his authority, with being a "great liar," but I believe the volume of travels first published by him, and in which the above is contained, is now generally admitted to be authentic.

In a subsequent volume, published after the death of La Salle, and from whose fame as first discoverer of the mouth of the Mississippi, he wished to detract, Hennessin gives an account of his descent to the mouth of the Mississippi, and which, being evidently fictitious, has cast suspicion upon his former publication.

Since the vast increase of the commerce of the western lakes, there is a peculiar interest connected with the construction and voyage of the adventurous bark of La Salle; and as the work from which I have translated the account is very rare, I have made, and herewith send an abstract of the same, which will be found more full and satisfactory than the one contained in the first volume of the collections of the New York Historical Society; and its publication at this time, in connection with your articles on "Early Commercial Voyages and Discoveries in America," ," may not be uninteresting to your numerous readers. "MARQUETTE."

LE GRIFFON.

Previous to the year 1679, the intrepid Jesuits, in their ardent desire to Christianize the ignorant savages, performed their long and toilsome voyages to those parts west and south of Lake Michigan, in bark canoes, after the manner of the savages, traders, and courieurs du bois, either through the River St. Lawrence, Niagara, and the lakes, or by ascending the Ottawa river to the source of one of its western branches, and thence by portages, through Nepissing lake and the River des Francais, by which they reached Lake Huron. The latter route was generally preferred, the distance being several hundred miles less, although the occurrence of numerous rapids, requiring tedious ad difficult portages, often decided them in favor of the former. The Sieur de la Salle, a native of Rouen, in France, who conceived the design of building the Griffin, was a man of genius and courage. Desirous of prosecuting the discoveries which the bold Marquette had opened, La Salle and his little band left Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) on the 18th of November, 1678, on board a vessel of 40 tons burden, and 16 men, commanded by Sieur de la Motte, which was the first vessel that sailed on Lake Ontario. They arrived in the mouth of the Niagara river on the 6th of December, and chanted the Te Deum as they entered its beautiful stream. After remaining one day at the mouth of the river, they ascended its current in a canoe for six miles, in search of a convenient place for building. The rapids above Lewistown preventing them from advancing further by water, they continued their search nine miles by land, and not finding a soil proper for cultivation, they encamped above the falls at the mouth of a small river now called Chippewa creek. The snow being a foot deep, they were obliged to remove it before encamping. The next day they retraced their steps to their vessel, meeting in their route numbers of deer and wild turkeys. Their commander, the Sieur de la Motte, no longer able to endure the rigor of such a life, returned to Fort Frontenac. The wind continuing contrary the 12th, 13th, and 14th of December, the party left with the vessel were unable to ascend the river to the point where they had determined to erect some buildings. On the 15th La Salle placed Father Hennessin at the rudder, and three of their company towed the vessel as far as the Great Rock, or mountain ridge at Lewistown, where they moored their vessel to the bank. The next day they built a cabin of stakes or palisades. The neighboring Senecas being extremely jealous of their constructing