Note 870 — THE THIRD VOYAGE NORTH-WARD TO THE KINGDOMES OF CATHAIA and China, in Anno 1596.

The 31 of July, in the morning, about the north-east sunne, we rowed from that island to another island, whereon there stood two crosses, whereby we thought that some men had laine there about trade of merchandise, as the other Russians that we saw before had done, but we found no man there; the wind as then being north-west, whereby the ice draue still towards the Weigats.870 There, to our great good, we went on land, for in that island we found great store of leple leaues,871 which serued vs exceeding well; and it seemed that God had purposely sent vs thither, for as then we had many sicke men, and most of vs were so troubled with a scouring in our bodies, and were thereby become so weake, that we could hardly row, but by meanes of those leaues we were healed thereof: for that as soone as we had eaten them we were presently eased and healed, whereat we could not choose but wonder,872 and therefore we gave God great thanks for that and for many other his mercies shewed vnto vs, by his great and vnexpected ayd lent vs in that our dangerous voyage. And so, as I sayd before, we eate them by whole handfuls together, because in Holland wee had heard much spoken of their great force, and as then found it to be much more than we expected.