8 elephants teeth. All his company were sick. The
19th our pinnace went again into the river, having the purser and
surgeon on board; and the 25th we sent the boat up the river again. The
30th our pinnace came from Benin with the sorrowful news that Thomas
Hemstead and our captain were both dead. She brought with her 159 serons
or bags of pepper, besides elephants teeth. In all the time of our
remaining off the river of Benin, we had fair and temperate weather when
the wind was at S.W. from the sea; but when the wind blew at N. and N.E.
from the land, it then rained with thunder and lightning, and the
weather was intemperately hot.

The 13th of April 1589, we began our voyage homeward, and the 27th of
July we spoke a ship called the Port belonging to London, giving us good
news of England. The 9th September we put into Catwater, where we
remained till the 28th, owing to sickness and want of men. The 29th we
sailed from Plymouth, and arrived at London on the 2d October 1589.

The commodities we carried out in this, voyage were linens and woollen
cloths, iron work of sundry kinds, manillios or bracelets of copper,
glass beads and coral. Those we brought home were pepper, elephants
teeth, palm oil, cloth made of cotton very curiously woven, and cloth
made of the bark of the palm tree. Their money consists of pretty white
shells, as they have no gold or silver. They have also great store of
cotton. Their bread is made of certain roots called _Inamia_, as large
as a mans arm, which when well boiled is very pleasant and light of
digestion. On banian or fish days, our men preferred eating these roots
with oil and vinegar to the best stock-fish[313]. There are great
quantities of palm trees, out of which the negroes procure abundance of
a very pleasant white wine, of which we could purchase two gallons for
20 shells. The negroes have plenty of soap, which has the flavour of
violets. They make very pretty mats and baskets, also spoons of ivory
very curiously wrought with figures of birds and beasts.

[Footnote 313: It is obvious that the banian or meager days, still
continued in the British navy, are a remnant of the meager days of the
Roman catholic times, when it was deemed a mortal sin to eat flesh.
Stock-fish are, however now abandoned, having been found to promote
scurvy.--E.]

Upon this coast we had the most terrible thunder and lightning, which
used to make the deck tremble under our feet, such as I never heard the
li