double désastre de la Santa Cruz et de la Madre de Deos fut disgrâcié.
La prise de la Madre de Deos marque une date importante dans l'histoire des relations de l'Angleterre avec l'Asie : elle livrait aux Anglais le secret du commerce de l'Extrême-Orient qu'elle cherchait vainement depuis longtemps à surprendre : le catalogue porté à Leadenhall, le 15 septembre 1592, nous indique ce que renfermait ce grand bâtiment de 1.600 tonnes, long de 165 pieds, d'épices, de drogues, de soies, de calicots, etc: d'une valeur d'au moins
150,000 :
Whereby it should seeme that the will of God for our good is (if our weaknesse could apprehend it) to haue vs communicate with them in those East Indian treasures, & by the erection of a lawfull traffike to better our meanes to aduance true religion and his holy seruice. The caracke being in burden by the estimation of the wise and experienced no lesse than 1,60o tunnes had full 900 of those stowed with the grosse bulke of marchandise, the rest of the tunnage . being allowed, partly to the ordinance which were 32 pieces of brasse of all sorts, partly to the passengers and the victuals, which could not be any small quantity, considering the number of the persons betwixt 600 and 700, and the length of the nauigation. To giue you a taste (as it were) of the commodities, it shall suffice to deliuer you a generall particularity of them, according to the catalogue taken at Leaden hall the 15. of September 1592. Where vpon good view it was found, that the principall wares after the iewels (which were no doubt of great value, though they neuer came to light) consisted of spices, drugges, silks, calicos, quilts, carpets and colours, &c. The spices were pepper, cloues, maces, nutmegs, cinamom, greene ginger : the drugs were beniamim, frankincense, galingale, mirabolans, aloes zocotrina, camphire : the silks, damasks, taffatas, sarcenets, altobassos, that is, counterfait cloth of gold, vnwrought China silke, sleaued silke, white twisted silke, curled cypresse. The calicos were book-calicos, calico-launes, broad white calicos, fine star-
IIIF Color HighRes
