Some Desired To Yield To The Spaniards, Some Rather Desired
To Obtain A Place Where They Might Give Themselves To
The infidels; and
some had rather abide, with a little pittance, the mercy of God at sea.
So thus, with
Many sorrowful hearts, we wandered in an unknown sea by
the space of fourteen days, till hunger enforced us to seek the land;
for hides were thought very good meat; rats, cats, mice, and dogs, none
escaped that might be gotten; parrots and monkeys, that were had in
great prize, were thought there very profitable if they served the turn
of one dinner. Thus in the end, on the 8th day of October, we came to
the land in the bottom of the same bay of Mexico, in twenty-three
degrees and a half, where we hoped to have found habitations of the
Spaniards, relief of victuals, and place for the repair of our ship,
which was so sore beaten with shot from our enemies, and bruised with
shooting of our own ordnance, that our weary and weak arms were scarce
able to defend and keep out the water. But all things happened to the
contrary, for we found neither people, victual, nor haven of relief,
but a place where, having fair weather, with some peril we might land a
boat. Our people, being forced with hunger, desired to be set aland,
whereunto I concluded.
And such as were willing to land I put apart, and such as were desirous
to go homewards I put apart, so that they were indifferently parted, a
hundred of one side and a hundred of the other side. These hundred men
we set on land with all diligence, in this little place aforesaid,
which being landed, we determined there to refresh our water, and so
with our little remain of victuals to take the sea.
The next day, having on land with me fifty of our hundred men that
remained, for the speedier preparing of our water aboard, there arose
an extreme storm, so that in three days we could by no means repair our
ships. The ship also was in such peril that every hour we looked for
shipwreck.
But yet God again had mercy on us, and sent fair weather. We got
aboard our water, and departed the 16th day of October, after which day
we had fair and prosperous weather till the 16th day of November, which
day, God be praised, we were clear from the coast of the Indians and
out of the channel and gulf of Bahama, which is between the cape of
Florida and the islands of Cuba. After this, growing near to the cold
country, our men, being oppressed with famine, died continually, and
they that were left grew into such weakness that we were scarcely able
to manoeuvre our ship, and the wind being always ill for us to recover
England, determined to go to Galicia, in Spain, with intent there to
relieve our company and other extreme wants.
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