Volume 10 / Part 2 / Book 4 — CHAPTER III. (continued 2)

So, on the 2d of October, 1592, we again made sail into the South Sea, and got free from the land. This night the wind again began to blow very strong at west, and increased with such violence that we were in great doubt what measures to pursue. We durst not put into the straits for lack of ground tackle, neither durst we carry sail, the tempest being very furious, and our sails very bad. In this extremity the pinnace bore up to us, informing she had received many heavy seas, and that her ropes were continually failing, so that they knew not what to do; but, unable to afford her any relief; we stood on our course in view of a lee shore, continually dreading a ruinous end of us all. The 4th October the storm increased to an extreme violence; when the pinnace, being to windward, suddenly struck a hull, when we thought she had sustained some violent shock of a sea, or had sprung a leak, or that her sails had failed, because she did not follow us. But we durst not hull in this unmerciful storm, sometimes trying under our main-course, sometimes with a haddock of our sail; for our ship was very leeward, and laboured hard in the sea. This night we lost sight of the pinnace, and never saw her again.

The 5th October, our foresail split, on which our master brought the mizen-sail to the foremast to make the ship work, and we mended our foresail with our spritsail. The storm still continued to rage with the most extreme fury, with hail, snow, rain, and wind, such and so mighty that it could not possibly in nature be worse; the seas running so lofty, and with a continual breach, that we many times were in doubt whether our ship did sink or swim. The 10th, the weather dark, the storm as furious as ever, most of the men having given over labour from fatigue and in despair, and being near the lee-shore by the reckoning both of the captain and master, we gave ourselves up for lost, past all remedy. While in this extremity of distress, the sun suddenly shone out clear, by which the captain and master were enabled to ascertain the latitude, and thereby knew what course to steer, so as to recover the straits. Next day, the 11th October, we saw Cape Deseado, being the southern point of the entrance into the straits, for the northern point is a dangerous assemblage of rocks, shoals, and islands. The cape was now two leagues to leeward, and the master was even in doubt whether we might be able to steer clear of it; but there was no remedy, as we must either succeed or be irretrievably lost.

Our master, being a man of spirit, made quick dispatch, and steered for the straits. Our sails had not been half an hour abroad for this purpose when the foot-rope of the fore-sail broke, so nothing held save the oilet-holes. The sea continually broke over our poop, and dashed with such violence against our sails, that we every moment looked to have them torn to pieces, or that the ship would overset. To our utter discomfort also, we perceived that she fell still more and more to leeward, so that we could not clear the cape. We were now within half a mile of the cape, and so near shore that the counter surge of the sea so rebounded against the side of our ship, that the horrors of our situation were undescribably awful. While in this utmost extremity, the wind and the sea raging beyond measure, and momentarily expecting to be driven upon the rocks, our master veered away some of the main-sheet: Whether owing to this, or by some counter current, or by the wonderful interposition of God, our ship quickened her way and shot past the rock, where we all thought she must have perished. Between this and the cape there was a small bay, so that we were now somewhat farther from the shore; but on coming to the cape, we again looked for nothing but instant death; yet God, the father of mercy, delivered us, and we doubled the cape little more than the length of our ship. When past the cape, we took in all our sails, and, being between the high lands, the wind blowing trade, or steadily in the direction of the straits, we spooned before the sea under bare poles, three men being unable to manage the helm, and in six hours we were driven twenty-five leagues within the straits.

In this time we freed our ship from water, and when we had rested a while, our men became unable to move, their sinews being stiff, and their flesh as if dead. Many of them were so covered and eaten with lice, that there lay clusters of them in their flesh as large as peas, yea, some as big as beans. In this state of misery we were constrained to put into a cove to refresh our men, where we moored to the trees as we had done before, our only anchor being to seaward. We here continued till the 20th of October; and being unable to continue longer, through the extremity of famine, we again put off into the channel on the 22d, the weather being then reasonably calm. Before night the wind blew hard at W.N.W. The storm waxed so violent that our men could scarcely stand to their labour; and the straits being full of turnings and windings, we had to trust entirely to the discretion of the captain and master to guide the ship during the darkness of the night, when we could see no shore, and the straits were in some places scarcely three miles broad. When we first passed these straits, our captain made so excellent a draught of them, as I am confident cannot in any sort be made more correct. Which draught he and the master so carefully considered, that they had every turning, creek, and head-land so perfectly in their memory, as enabled them, even in the deepest darkness of the night, undoubtingly to convey the ship through that crooked channel.

The 25th October we came to an island in the straits, named Penguine Isle, where the boat was sent ashore to seek relief, as it abounded with birds, and the weather was calm; so we came to anchor near the island, in seven fathoms. While the boat was ashore, where we got abundance of penguins, there rose a sudden storm, by which our ship was driven over a breach, and our boat sunk at the shore. Captain Cotton and the lieutenant, who were both on shore, leapt into the boat, and freed it of water, throwing away the birds, and with great difficulty got back to the ship. All this time the ship was driving upon the lee-shore; and when we got on board, we helped to weigh the anchor and make sail. Thus, in a severe storm, we got clear of the straits on the 27th October; and on the 30th we got to that Penguin Island which is three leagues from Port Desire, where we purposed to seek relief. Immediately on coming to this isle, our boat was sent ashore, and returned laden with birds and eggs, the men reporting that the penguins were so thick on the isle, that even ships might be laden with them, as they could not step without treading on these birds; at which news we greatly rejoiced.

Then the captain appointed Charles Parker and Edmund Smith, with twenty others, to go on shore, and remain on the island, on purpose to kill and dry these penguins: promising to send others when the ship was safe in harbour, not only for expedition, but to save the small store of victuals that remained in the ship. But Parker and Smith, with the rest of their faction, remembering that this was the place where they intended formerly to have slain the captain and master, thought it was meant here to leave them on shore out of revenge, and refused to land. After some altercation, these men were allowed to proceed in the ship, and ten others were left in the island. The last day of October we entered the harbour of Port Desire. The master, having at our being there before taken notice of every creek in the river, ran our ship aground in a very convenient place on the sandy ooze, laying our anchor out to seawards, and mooring her with the running ropes to stakes on shore, in which situation the ship remained till our departure.

The 3d November our boat was sent off for Penguin Island, with wood and water, and as many men as she could carry; but, being deep laden, she durst not proceed, and returned again the same night. Then Parker, Smith, Townsend, Purpet, and five others, desired that they might go by land, and that the boat might fetch them from the shore opposite the isle, being scarcely a mile across. The captain bid them do as they thought best, only advised them to carry weapons, as they might meet with savages; so they accordingly carried calivers, swords, and targets, departing by land on the 6th November, while the boat went by sea. But these nine men were never more heard of. On the 11th, when most of our men were at the island, only the captain, master, and five more remaining in the ship, there came a great multitude of savages to the shore beside the ship, throwing dust into the air, leaping and running about like so many beasts, having vizards on their faces like dogs, or else their faces actually resembled dogs. We greatly feared they would have set the ship on fire, for they would suddenly make fire, at which we were greatly astonished. They came to windward of the ship, and set the bushes on fire, so that we were enveloped in a very stinking smoke; but coming within shot of us, we fired at them, and hitting one on the thigh, they all fled instantly away, and we never heard or saw them more. Hence we judged that these savages had slain our nine men, who were the ringleaders of those who would formerly have murdered our captain and master, with the rest of their friends; so that God evidently drew just judgment upon them, and we supplicated his divine Majesty to be merciful to us.

While we lay in this harbour, our captain and master went one day in the boat to see how far the river could be penetrated, that if need enforced us, it might be known how far we might proceed by water. They found that this river was only navigable by the boat for twenty miles. On their return, the boat was sent to Penguin Island, by which we learnt that the penguins dried to our entire satisfaction, and were in infinite numbers. This penguin is shaped like a bird, having stumps only in place of wings, by which it swims under water as swiftly as any fish. They live upon smelts, which are found in vast abundance on this coast. In eating, these penguins seem neither fish nor flesh. They lay large eggs; and the bird is about as large as two ducks. All the time we remained at Port Desire, we fared well on penguins and their eggs, young seals, young gulls, and other birds of which I know not the names, all of which we had in vast abundance. In this place also we found plenty of an herb called scurvy-grass, which we eat fried in seal-oil along with eggs, which so purified the blood, that it entirely removed all kind of swellings, of which many had died, and restored us all to as perfect health as when we first left England.

We remained in this harbour till the 22d of December, 1592, in which time we had dried 20,000 penguins. In this time also the captain, with the master and I, made some salt, by filling some holes in the rocks with sea-water, which in six days was changed to salt by evaporation, it being now Midsummer in this southern hemisphere. Thus did God feed us in the desert, even as with manna from heaven. The 22d December we departed from Port Desire for Penguin island, where, with great difficulty, we got 14,000 of the dried birds on board, during which we had nearly lost our captain; and had not our master been very expert in the set of the tides, which ran in many cross directions, we had lost our ship.

We now shaped our course for Brazil, under a regulated allowance of provisions, so that our victuals might last six months, in which time we hoped we might get back to England, though our sails were very bad. This allowance was, two ounces and a half of meal for each man, two days only in the week, or five ounces for a week; three days a week, three spoonfulls of oil were allowed to each man; two days a week, a pint of peas among four men; and every day five dried penguins among four men, with six quarts of water each day to four men. With this allowance, praised be God, we lived, though weak and feeble.

The 30th January, 1593, we arrived at the isle of Placencia, or Ilha Grande, in Brazil, the first place at which we touched when outwards bound. The ship laying off at sea, the captain went aland in the boat with twenty-four men, being the whole night before he could reach the shore. He landed next day at sun-rise, hoping to catch the Portuguese in their houses, and by that means to procure a supply of casava meal; but on coming to the houses, we found them all burnt to the ground, so that we thought no one had remained on the island. The captain then went to the gardens, whence he brought a quantity of fruits and roots for the company, and returned on board. He then brought the ship into a fine creek, where she was moored to the trees on each side, at a place where we had plenty of fresh water. Our case being very desperate, we presently set to work to trim and repair our water-casks, the coopers making new hoops; while others laboured to repair the sails, keeping always a guard on shore, and every man having always his weapons ready at hand. The 3d February, thirty men well armed went to the gardens, three miles from where the ship lay, to dig cassavi-roots, to serve our company instead of bread. This was again repeated on the 5th. They laboured in quietness all the morning; and about ten o'clock, the heat being extreme, they came to a rock near the side of the wood, where they boiled cassavi-roots for dinner. After dinner, some went to sleep, and others to bathe in the sea, no one keeping watch, not a match lighted, nor even a piece charged. While in this unprovided state, and out of sight from the ship, there came suddenly upon them a multitude of Portuguese and Indians, who slew them all to the number of thirteen, two only escaping, one of these very sore hurt, and the other not touched, from whom we learnt the circumstances of this sad massacre.

We manned the boat with all speed, and went ashore, if happily we might succour our men; but we found them all slain, and laid naked in a row, with their faces upwards, and a cross set up beside them. We saw also two large pinnaces coming from Rio de Janeiro, full of men, who, as we supposed, were intended to take us. We were now much reduced, as of seventy-six persons we had on board when we left England, there were now only twenty-seven of us remaining, thirty-two having died formerly, and thirteen being slain in this place. Between those formerly slain by the savages at Port Desire, and those now in the island of Placencia by the Portuguese, all those who had conspired to murder our captain and master were now cut off, the gunner only excepted. Our casks were so greatly decayed, that we could not take in a sufficient supply of water, and what we had was exceedingly bad. Having lost several muskets on shore, which had belonged to our slain men, with good store of powder and shot, we expected to be beaten from our decks by means of our own weapons, by the Portuguese on the island, joined by those coming from Janeiro: and as we were moored to the trees, for want of cables and anchors, we were in dread of having our mooring ropes cut. In this miserable state we knew not what measures to pursue. To depart with only eight tons of bad water, and in bad casks, were to run the risk of starving at sea, and to remain seemed inevitable ruin. These were severe alternatives; but in our perplexity we preferred trusting to the hand of God than to the mercy of our enemies, and concluded to depart. Wherefore, on the 6th February, we unmoored and removed our ship into the channel, putting all our ordnance and small arms in readiness in case of an assault, and having a small gale of wind, we put to sea in deep distress.

Thus bemoaning our sad estate, and recounting our past misfortunes, we came to Cape Frio; being much crossed for three weeks by contrary winds, and our water running short, we were reduced to the utmost distress and perplexity. Some of the people were desirous of going into Bahia, and submitting to the Portuguese, rather than die of thirst; but our captain persuaded them against this measure. In this extremity, it pleased God to send us such abundant rain, that we were enabled to supply ourselves with water. On getting into the hot climate near the line, our dried penguins began to corrupt, and there bred in them many loathsome worms, an inch in length. These worms increased with astonishing rapidity, devouring our victuals so fast that we now seemed doomed to die of famine, as before of thirst We were even in danger of being eaten up by these worms, which devoured every thing except iron. They so gnawed the timbers of our ship, that we feared they would eat holes through her sides. We used every possible contrivance to destroy these noisome vermin, but they seemed only to increase so much the more, so that at last they would eat our flesh, and bite us like mosquitoes when we were asleep.

In this woeful plight, after we had passed the equator towards the north, our men began to fall sick of a most terrible disease, such as, I believe, was never before heard of. It began with a swelling in their ankles, which in two days rose up as high as their breasts, so that they could not breathe. It then fell into the scrotum, which, with the penis, swelled in a most grievous manner, so that they could neither stand, walk, nor lie; and many of them became frantic with grief and distress. Our captain, with extreme distress of mind, was in so miserable a condition, that he wished to die; yet, while scarcely able to speak for sorrow, he continued to exhort us all to patience and reliance on God, desiring us to accept our chastisement like dutiful and thankful children. In this state of misery and wretchedness, several died raving mad, and others in a most loathsome state, or in dreadful pain and agony. None in the ship remained in perfect health, except the captain and one boy; the master also, though oppressed with extreme labour and anxiety, bore up with spirit, so that his disease did not overcome him.

At length all our men died except sixteen, five only of whom were able to move. These were, the captain, who was in good health, the master indifferent, Captain Cotton and myself swollen and short-winded, yet better than the other sick men, and the boy in good health. Upon us five the whole labour of the ship rested. The captain and master, as happened to be necessary, took in and left out the topsails. The master by himself attended to the sprit-sail, and all of us the capstan, being utterly unable to work sheets and tacks. Our misery and weakness were so extreme, that we were utterly unable to take in or set a sail; so that our top-sails and sprit-sail were at length torn in pieces by the weather. The captain and master had to take their turns at the helm, where they were inexpressibly grieved and distressed by the continual and sad lamentations of our few remaining sick men.

Thus lost wanderers on the ocean, unable to help ourselves, it pleased God, on the 11th of June, 1593, that we arrived at Beerhaven in Ireland, and ran the ship there on shore. The Irish helped us to take in our sails, and to moor the ship so as to float her off next tide; for which slender aid it cost the captain ten pounds, before he could get the ship into a state of safety. Thus, without men, sails, victuals, or other means, God alone guided us into Ireland. Here the captain left the master and three or four more of the company to keep the ship; and within five days after our arrival, he and some others got a passage in a fishing-boat to Padstow in Cornwall. For the merciful preservation of this our small remnant, and our restoration to our country, be all honour and glory to God, now and for ever.--Amen.