Arriving before Flores on Thursday the 21st June towards evening, then only accompanied by captain Caufield and the master of his ship, the rest not being yet arrived, be made towards the shore in his boat, where he found all the inhabitants of Santa Cruz, a village or small town of that island, under arms, and drawn up to oppose his landing. Having no intention of committing hostilities, Sir John shewed a white flag in token of amity, which was answered by the islanders, upon which a friendly conference ensued, and hostages were taken on both sides, the captain of the town for them, and captain Caufield for us; so that whatever our people wanted and that place could supply, as fresh water, victuals, or the like, was freely granted by the inhabitants, and our people had leave to refresh themselves on shore without restraint, as long and as often as they pleased. At this place Sir John Burrough was informed, that they had no expectation of any fleet coming from the West Indies; but that only three days before his arrival, a carak had passed by from the East Indies for Lisbon, and that there were four more behind all of one convoy. Being very glad of this news, Sir John embarked immediately, having at this time in his company only a small bark of Bristol, belonging to one Mr Hopkins.

In the meanwhile, part of the English ships that Sir John had left on the coast of Spain drew towards the Azores; and Sir John very soon got sight of one of the caraks. The same evening he descried two or three of the earl of Cumberlands ships, whereof one Mr Norton was captain, which had descried the carak and pursued in the track she was following for the islands, but no way could be made by either party, as it was almost a dead calm. In this dilemma, on purpose to discover her force, burden, and countenance, Sir John took his boat and rowed three miles towards her, to make her out exactly; and on his return, having consulted with his officers, it was resolved to board her in the morning. A heavy storm arose in the night, which forced them to weigh anchor, yet did they bear up amain against the weather, not to lose the carak. In the morning, being very near the shore, our men could perceive the carak close to the land, and the Portuguese using their utmost endeavour to convey whatever they could from her on shore. Seeing our men making all haste to come upon her, the Portuguese forsook her, but first, that nothing might be left for our men, they set her on fire, that neither the glory of victory nor the benefit of the ship and cargo might remain to the English. And, lest the English might find means to extinguish the fire, and thereby to preserve a part of the cargo, being in number 400 well armed men, they entrenched themselves on shore as near as possible to the carak, to keep our men aloof till the fire might consume the carak and all her contents.

Seeing this, Sir John landed with an hundred of his men, many of whom had to swim on shore or wade more than breast high; and having easily dispersed those who guarded the shore, he no sooner approached the entrenchment but the Portuguese fled, leaving as much as the fire had spared to reward the pains of our men. Among others taken at the entrenchment, were a Portuguese called Vincent Fonseca, purser of the carak, with two of her cannoneers, one a German, and the other a Hollander; who, refusing to give any account voluntarily of what was asked, were threatened with torture, and then confessed that within fifteen days three other caraks would certainly arrive at the same island, there being five caraks in the fleet at their departure from Goa, the Buen Jesus admiral, Madre de Dios, San Bernardo, San Christophoro, and Santa Cruz, that now on fire. They had especial orders from the king of Spain, not in any case to touch at St. Helena, where the Portuguese caraks used always till now to refresh on their way from the East Indies, procuring water and fresh, provisions. The reason of this order was, that the king was informed the English men of war meant to lie there in wait for them. If therefore, their necessities should drive them to seek supply any where, they were commanded to put in at Angola on the coast of Africa, and only to remain there so long as was necessary to take in water, that they might avoid the inconvenience of infections, to which that hot country is dangerously liable. The last rendezvous appointed for them was the island of Flores, where they were assured of a naval force meeting them and convoying them to Lisbon.

On receiving this intelligence, Sir John held a council with Captains Norton, Downton, and Abraham Cocke, commanding three ships of the Earl of Cumberland, Mr Thomson of Harwich, captain of the Dainty, belonging to Sir John Hawkins, one of Sir Walter Raleighs fleet, Captain Christopher Newton of the Golden Dragon, newly come from the West Indies, and others. To these he communicated the intelligence he had just got from the foresaid examination, and what great presumptions of truth appeared in their story; and wishing, since God and their good fortune had so opportunely brought them together, that they might unite their utmost endeavours to bring these Orientals under the lee of English obedience. Upon this it was mutually agreed not to part company or leave these seas, till time and opportunity should enable them to put their consultations into execution. Next day her majestys ship Foresight, Sir Robert Cross, joined them, and he, being informed of the matter, entered heartily on this service. Then Sir John, with all these ships, went 6 or 7 leagues to the west of Flores, spreading them out in a line from north to south, each ship at least two leagues distant from each other, by which order they were able to discover two whole degrees of the sea.

They lay in this manner from the 29th of June to the 3d of August, when Captain Thomson in the Dainty had first sight of the huge carak called the Madre de Dios, one of the greatest belonging to the crown of Portugal. Having the start of the rest, and being an excellent sailor, the Dainty began the combat something to her cost, by the slaughter and hurt of several of her men. Within a little Sir John Burrough came up to second her in the Roebuck, belonging to Sir Walter Raleigh, and saluted the Madre de Dios with great shot, continuing the fight within musket-shot, assisted by Captains Thomson and Newport, till Sir Robert Cross came up, who was vice-admiral and was to leeward, on which Sir John asked his opinion what was best to be done. Sir Robert said, if she were not boarded she would reach the shore and be set on fire, as had been done with the other. Wherefore Sir John Burrough concluded to grapple her, and Sir Robert Cross engaged to do so likewise at the same moment, which was done accordingly. After some time in this situation, Sir John Burroughs ship received a shot of a cannon perier389 under water; and, being ready to sink, desired Sir Robert to fall off, that he also might clear himself and save his ship from sinking. This was done with much difficulty, as both the Roebuck and Foresight were so entangled that they could not clear themselves.

That same evening, finding the carak drawing near the land, Sir Robert Crosse persuaded his consorts to board her again, as otherwise there were no hopes of taking her. After many fears and excuses, he at last encouraged them, and then went athwart her bows all alone, and so hindered her sailing, that the rest had time to get up to the attack before she could make the land. So, towards evening, after Sir Robert had fought her three hours singly, two of the Earl of Cumberlands ships came up, and then they and Sir Robert Crosse carried her by boarding with very little loss, as Sir Robert by this time had broken their courage, and made the assault easy for the rest. Having disarmed the Portuguese, and bestowed them for better security as prisoners into the other ships, Sir Robert had now time to contemplate the proportions of this vast carak, which did then, and may still provoke the admiration of all men not accustomed to such a sight. But though this first view afforded our men sufficient admiration, yet the pitiful sight of so many bodies slain and mangled drew tears from their eyes, and induced them to lend aid to those miserable people, whose limbs were sore torn by the shot, and their bodies agonized by a multitude of wounds. No man could almost step but upon a dead carcass or a bloody floor, but especially about the helm, where many of them had been slain while endeavouring to steer, as it required the united strength of twelve or fourteen men at once to move the rudder, and some of our ships beating in at her stern with their ordnance, often slew four or five labouring on each side of the helm at one shot, whose places were immediately supplied by fresh hands, and as our artillery incessantly plied them with continual vollies, much blood was necessarily spilt in that place.