ships. The rest that befell, your Grace knows. Oliver de Nort
is a native of the city of Roterdam, and he reached it with
an anchor of wood. [38] He had no other with which to anchor,
nor indeed had he any other left. It is said that this is a
very heavy wood of the Indias, and he has placed it at the
door of his house, as a mark of distinction. He arrived,
as I say, with nine men, all told, very much worn out,
and as by a miracle. He has printed a book of his voyage,
with engravings of his vessels, and many other details of
what happened to him, and the hardships that they endured
in the fight and throughout the voyage, both to show his own
glory and to incite others to similar deeds. A pilot of this
island, one Bartolome Perez, was seized and taken to Inglaterra
before the peace or truce. He came through Holanda, where he
conversed at great length with Oliver. The latter told him
all that had happened to him, which is known to all, and was
discussed in this island before that voyage. Bartolome Perez
says that Oliver de Nort praised the Spaniards greatly, and
said they were the bravest men he had seen in his life. They
had gained the deck of his ship, and all the upper works,
when he cried out from below deck to set fire to the powder,
whereupon he believes that the Spaniards left for fear of
being blown up. The Dutch then had an opportunity to escape,
but so crippled were they that their reaching port seems a
miracle. The pilot says that he saw the anchor and the book,
and what pertains to the book is stated here. I have recounted
this to your Grace, because of the statements in your letter,
namely, that people considered them as lost, and so that so
singular a case may be known there.