e limited for them in the river Gambia, beyond
which they must not go under pain of death and confiscation of their
goods; as the renters themselves send their own barks at certain times
up the river, to those places where gold is to be had. In all those
places hereabout, where we are in use to trade, the Spaniards and
Portuguese have no castle or other place of strength, merely trading
under the licence and safe conduct of the negroes. Most of the Spaniards
and Portuguese who reside in those parts are banished men or fugitives,
who have committed heinous crimes; and their life and conversation is
conformable to their conditions, as they are the basest and most
villainously behaved persons of their nation that are to be met with in
any part of the world.

CHAPTER VIII.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS EARLY VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH.

INTRODUCTION.

The present chapter is rather of an anomalous nature, and chiefly
consists of naval expeditions against the Spaniards and Portuguese,
scarcely belonging in any respect to our plan of arrangement: yet, as
contained mostly in the ancient English collection of Hakluyt, and in
that by Astley, we have deemed it improper to exclude them from our
pages, where they may be considered in some measure as an episode.
Indeed, in every extensively comprehensive plan, some degree of anomaly
is unavoidable. The following apology or reason given by the editor of
Astley's collection for inserting them in that valuable work, may serve
us likewise on the present occasion; though surely no excuse can be
needed, in a national collection like ours, for recording the exploits
of our unrivalled naval defenders.

"For want of a continued series of trading voyages to Guinea, we shall
here insert an account of some remarkable achievements by the English
against the Spaniards and Portuguese; who, being greatly alarmed to find
out merchants extending their commerce, and trading to those parts of
the world which they pretended a right of engrossing to themselves,
began to treat our ships very severely, wherever they had the
superiority; and when they wanted force, endeavoured to surprise them by
treachery, never scrupling to violate the most solemn oaths and
engagements to compass their designs. For this reason the English
merchant ships were obliged to go to sea armed and in company; by which
means they not only prevented the outrages of these faithless enemies,
but often revenged the injuries done to othe