To this bay, assoone as our people in the pinnas saw their errour, they brought their tackes abourd, and turned and tyded it up, as they could. Assoone as we came to anchor, I procured to remedie that was amisse; in two daies wee dispatched all we had to doe, and the next morning wee resolved to set sayle, and to leave the coast of Peru and Quito.
The day appearing, we began to weigh our anchors, and being a pike, ready to cut sayle, one out of the toppe descryed [Spanish Armado.] the Spanish armado, comming about the cape; which by the course it kept, presently gave us to understand who they were: though my company, as is the custome of sea-men, made them to be the fleete bound for Panama, loaden with treasure, and importuned that in all hast we should cut sayle and stand with them; which I contradicted, for that I was assured, that no shipping would stirre upon the coast till they had securitie of our departure (except some armado that might be sent to seeke us), and that it was not the time of the yeare to carry the treasure to Panama. And besides, in riding still at an anchor, they ever came neerer unto us; for they stood directly with us, and wee kept the weather gage; where if we had put our selves under sayle, the ebbe in hand, wee should have given them the advantage, which we had in our power, by reason of the point of the bay. And being the armado, as it was, we gained time to fit ourselves, the better to fight. And truly (as before, to a stiffe-necked horse), so now againe I cannot but resemble the condition of the mariner to any thing better, then to the current of a furious river, repressed by force or art, which neverthelesse ceaseth not to seeke a way to overthrow both fence and banke: even so the common sort of sea-men, apprehending a conceite in their imaginations, neither experiment, knowledge, examples, reasons, nor authority, can alter and remoove them from their conceited opinions. In this extremitie, with reason I laboured to convince them, and to contradict their pretences: but they altogether without reason, or against reason, breake out, some into vaunting and bragging, some into reproaches of want of courage, others into wishings that they had never come out of their countrey, if we should refuse to fight with two shippes whatsoever. [The unadvised courage of the multitude.] And to mend the matter, the gunner, for his part, assured me that with the first tire[207] of shott, he would lay the one of them in the sods: and our pinnace, that she would take the other to taske. One promised that he would cut downe the mayne yard; another that he would take their flagge; and all in generall shewed a great desire to come to tryall with the enemy. To some I turned the deafe eare, with others I dissembled, and armed myselfe with patience (having no other defence nor remedie for that occasion), soothing and animating them to the execution of what they promised, and perswaded them to have a little sufferance, seeing they gained time and advantage by it.