Drie scheeps-togten na het goud-rijke koningrijk Guiana, in America geleegen, door den Engelssen ridder Wal...

FIRST VOYAGE

1595
Voyage to Guiana undertaken, but with much adversity.

...we still wanted to take our own experience of it. First, Captain George Giffordt was sent eastward with a ship to discover the mouth of the river called Cupuri a river mouth in the Orinoco delta; finding little water there, he cast the anchor out on its shore, as if wanting to test how far one could run inwards at high water: but it was all in vain, as the water had run out again before they could reach the sandbanks, which failed for a second time as well; so that he was forced to either abandon the plan or venture so far, and leave the large ships about 400 English miles behind, to then carry up all the men and provisions with our boats and other small vessels, which was not found advisable, as one saw the son of Berreo coming towards us at that same time with all his people. Then a boatswain was sent with the boat to sound another river of the Bay of Guanipa a region in the Orinoco delta, and to see if it was possible to get through with the ships: when he had, however, arrived before the mouth of this river, called Amana a distributary of the Orinoco, he found it the same as the others, not daring to venture further upwards, as he was warned by an Indian, his guide, that the canibalen cannibals/hostile tribes would come to attack him with their canoes, who shoot with poisonous arrows, and if he did not turn back at once, they would all be lost.

Further preparations made.

Meanwhile, fearing the worst, one had the carpenters build a gallias a light galley or barge that only went 5 feet deep; one also ordered rowers in it and sent the boatswain another boat for help to examine the grounds and shallows even further. He did find some suitable passages, but yet very shallow, and having no more than 5 feet of water, so that one lost all hope of getting through with the large ships.