F I R S T

V O Y A G E

To the gold-rich Kingdom of

G U I A N A,

Situated in America,

By the English Knight

WALTER RALEGH.

Undertaken in the Year 1595.

1595

W. Ralegh's departure.

Sets course for Trinidad.

Decorative drop cap 'O' with floral and foliate motifs inside a square border.
On the 6th of February in the year 1595, we set out from England onto the sea, and with a favorable wind sailed past the Northern Cape of Spain. After we had left the Berlingas a group of islands off the Portuguese coast and the rocks behind us, we set our course for the Canaries, where on the 17th of the same month we anchored before Fuerteventura. We stayed here for 2 days to refresh ourselves, from where we turned toward the coast of Gran Canaria, and subsequently toward Tenerife, to wait there for the ship the Young Lion, commanded by Captain Amys Preston. After waiting for the same in vain for 6 or 7 days, we continued our voyage alone with our ship and a small bark belonging to Captain Crosses, toward Trinidad, as we had lost sight of the galleons that had departed from Plymouth with us before the Spanish coast.