The diary of Henry Teonge, chaplain on board H.M.'s ships Assistance, Bristol, and Royal Oak, 1675-1679 / transcribed from the original manuscript and edited with an introduction and notes by G.E. Manwaring.

  • Teonge, Henry, 1621-1690.
Date:
[1927]
    DEPARTURE OF ALEPPINES i 8 : Calm all night; and so also to-day. About 11 of the clock came near us five galleys ; and one more about three leagues astern. When we had put abroad our colours they (being Genoese) sent their boat to inquire after the Algerines which were near us the la£t night; and, having received our information, they left us, and £fcood toward the shore. ’Twas ju£t by the island called Gorgona.225 19 : Little wind; yet we are over against the head Cape of Corsica. At 4 our Captain and Aleppines went aboard the Tartan,226 which is to carry them over, to serenade and make merry. (20) : I preached a sermon : “ Hallowed be Thy name.” We met the Unity to-day. And now we are entering the Gulf of Lyons, which is at lea£I three hundred and seventy leagues over. God send us well over it! 21 : This morning we are close under the isles of Aries,227 At half an hour after 9 our noble Aleppines departed from us. We gave them nine guns ; the Dartmouth seven ; the Martin nine. They saluted us with all their peteraroes several times over. Their good company will be much missed aboard our ship. They are for Marseilles ;228 and will be there this night. No sooner do we part with our Aleppines but we discover eight sails coming towards us from the shore ; which we soon discover to be Algerine men-of- war. Now we make all things ready, thinking no less but that they would fight us. But when we came something near them, their Admiral sent his boat to us, and commands [us] on aboard to give him account
    A ROLLING SEA what we were and whither bound. Our Captain, being very angry at such a message, commands to run out all our guns; but the Algerines, not well liking that sight, tacked from us as fa£t as they could. They took a Venetian of thirty-six guns this morning. 22 : We have no wind, and a troublesome rolling sea. At io came a small gale; we caulk up our portholes and our starboard side. And, when we thought to have crossed this dangerous gulf without any trouble, in the evening arose two small clouds in the North, which were coal-black, and in less than half an hour’s time overspread all the heavens in sight, and brought such a vehement wind with it, that [we] were forced to lower all our yards, and split our mainsail; in which trouble Phynny Shreusbury brake his leg between the mainmast and mainyard, and Roger Lyswell fell from the mainyard upon a gun, being much bruised. 23 : This £torm continues all this day. At 5 at night, being forced to run before the wind, and out of our right course, we came by Minorca,229 and close under Port Mahon, where we lie by, for the Dartmouth and Martin. The fir£t came presently; the other at 9 a-clock. 24 : Bartholomew Day, and we have a brave gale ; and we passed the Caparero. 25 : Still a fine gale to bring us to England sooner than we expe£led. 26 : This morning pa£fc Cape St Paul. At night against Cape de Gat. (27): I preached a sermon : “ Thy kingdom come.” We have a true Levant wind,230 which brings us on
    CITY OF TRIPOLI apace. We have passed the Granada Hills; and at 3 a-clock pa£t Malaga. 28 : Now are we under Gibraltar. At 6 at night we come to an anchor in Tangier Road, and salute the town with nine guns, who salute us again with as many from the Mole. And here we are soon informed of the Algerines taking of the Guinea and the Quaker ketch, whose loss was much lamented. And now, having left the Mediterranean, give me leave to return to Egypt, where I left, and give a small relation of Africa. Africa, the third part of the world, lieth Wed from Egypt; which extends itself from thence to Caput Bon<e Spei and to the Hill Atlas in the We£t; and is divided into several countries. Cyrene, or Africa Minor, lies next to Egypt, where £tood that famous oracle called Jupiter Ammon; all the country where this oracle £tood being a wilder¬ ness. Where Alexander marching with his army, for four days’ space found neither grass, tree, water, man, bird, nor bea£t, but a deep sand. This is now termed a part of Egypt. And from hence to Hercules’ Pillar is called Barbary, though it contain several kingdoms. And from hence to Tripoli is the King of Tripoli’s jurisdiftion ; for which he is a tributary to the great Turk. The city of Tripoli stands in a fruitful plain ; yet one part of the town climbs up to the top of a round hill, having a strong wall about it; and is in compass much about two miles, the wall being furnished with several pieces of cannon. Their harbour is very
    QUEEN DIDO’S TOMB secure, having but one passage leading into it, and that very narrow and as it were a lane hemmed in with several black rocks on the right hand and the shore on the left; up the which you come near two miles before you be in the harbour. And ju£t at the entrance into this narrow passage was built, while we lay against the city, a strong fort, of at lea£t twenty guns, to secure the passage. The harbour is very large when you are come into it. On the left hand stands a slrong cattle, ju£l before you the city wall; and on the right hand an exceeding strong fortification, which they call the Mandrake, which is built round of itself; and a wall with battlements on each side running from it to the town ; and as full of guns as it can lie. The town all built of £tone ; the houses but low—no glass windows. The plague was so much in it that I went not ashore. Their country round about seems to be very fruitful; where they have two crops of wheat every year, of once sowing. Abundance of dates and other fruits, musk-melons, water-melons, infinite of all garden- £tuff; and much plenty of beef, mutton, and all manner of poultry and other provisions. Mauritania Caesariensis lies next. In this country £tood that famous city Carthage; supposed to be built by Queen Dido, who came from Tyrus. Some pieces of towers and walls remain to this day; and also part of Queen Dido’s tomb is standing upon a rise near the sea. And several foundations and pieces of walls are to be seen as you row in a boat to go into Tunis. And there are several vaults underground, wherein people now live, which were part of Carthage.
    PILLARS OF HERCULES Great wars were between the Romans and Cartha¬ ginians for the priority; but at the laft the Romans (at the earneft desire of Cato, who pleading concluded always thus : Delenda e§t Carthago /) razed it to the ground, fearing such a powerful neighbour. More Weft ftands Utrica, and Hippo, where St Auguftine was bishop. This whole country is called the kingdom of Tunis, which is also, as well as Tripoli, ftipendiary to the Turk. Mauritania Tingitana lies more Weft ftill, and by the Mediterranean; and so-called from Tangier, the chief city there; but some will have it not to ftand where Tangier now ftands but on the other side of the bay. The people of this country are those which in all old hiftories are called Moors. And at the Straits of Gibraltar or Gibbettore, called the Straits Mouth, did Hercules set up his Pillars— one upon the Barbary, the other on the Spanish shore, opposite the one to the other. Ergo these seas were called of old Freta Herculea. In the Weft part of this country ftands the hill called Atlas Minor, and in the South, Atlas Major, which for its height is said to carry Heaven on his shoulders. Here is the kingdom of Fez, lying towards the Mediterranean ; and the kingdom of Morocco on the other side. These are both Saracens, and so are their people : they hold league with the Turk, and some Chriftian Princes, only for traffic. In the South parts of Africa is scarce anything remarkable, save that there are men and beafts of ftrange shapes ; as, some men with heads like dogs