Before We Came Within The Making Of These Lands, We Tasted Cold
Storms, Insomuch That It Seemed We Had Changed With Winter, If The
Length Of The Days Had Not Removed Us From That Opinion.
At our first coming, the straits seemed to be shut up with a long
mure of ice, which gave
No little cause of discomfort unto us all;
but our general (to whose diligence, imminent dangers and difficult
attempts seemed nothing in respect of his willing mind for the
commodity of his prince and country), with two little pinnaces
prepared of purpose, passed twice through them to the east shore,
and the islands thereunto adjacent; and the ship, with the two
barques, lay off and on something farther into the sea from the
danger of the ice.
Whilst he was searching the country near the shore, some of the
people of the country showed themselves, leaping and dancing, with
strange shrieks and cries, which gave no little admiration to our
men. Our general, desirous to allure them unto him by fair means,
caused knives and other things to be proffered unto them, which they
would not take at our hands; but being laid on the ground, and the
party going away, they came and took up, leaving something of theirs
to countervail the same. At the length, two them, leaving their
weapons, came down to our general and master, who did the like to
them, commanding the company to stay, and went unto them, who, after
certain dumb signs and mute congratulations, began to lay hands upon
them, but they deliverly escaped, and ran to their bows and arrows
and came fiercely upon them, not respecting the rest of our company,
which were ready for their defence, but with their arrows hurt
divers of them. We took the one, and the other escaped.
Whilst our general was busied in searching the country, and those
islands adjacent on the east shore, the ships and barques, having
great care not to put far into the sea from him, for that he had
small store of victuals, were forced to abide in a cruel tempest,
chancing in the night amongst and in the thickest of the ice, which
was so monstrous that even the least of a thousand had been of force
sufficient to have shivered our ship and barques into small
portions, if God (who in all necessities hath care upon the
infirmity of man) had not provided for this our extremity a
sufficient remedy, through the light of the night, whereby we might
well discern to flee from such imminent dangers, which we avoided
within fourteen bourdes in one watch, the space of four hours. If
we had not incurred this danger amongst these monstrous islands of
ice, we should have lost our general and master, and the most of our
best sailors, which were on the shore destitute of victuals; but by
the valour of our master gunner, Master Jackman and Andrew Dier, the
master's mates, men expert both in navigation and other good
qualities, we were all content to incur the dangers afore rehearsed,
before we would, with our own safety, run into the seas, to the
destruction of our said general and his company.
The day following, being the 19th of July, our captain returned to
the ship with good news of great riches, which showed itself in the
bowels of those barren mountains, wherewith we were all satisfied.
A sudden mutation. The one part of us being almost swallowed up the
night before, with cruel Neptune's force, and the rest on shore,
taking thought for their greedy paunches how to find the way to
Newfoundland; at one moment we were racked with joy, forgetting both
where we were and what we had suffered. Behold the glory of man:
to-night contemning riches, and rather looking for death than
otherwise, and to-morrow devising how to satisfy his greedy appetite
with gold.
Within four days after we had been at the entrance of the straits,
the north-west and west winds dispersed the ice into the sea, and
made us a large entrance into the Straits, that without impediment,
on the 19th July, we entered them; and the 20th thereof our general
and master, with great diligence, sought out and sounded the west
shore, and found out a fair harbour for the ship and barques to ride
in, and named it after our master's mate, Jackman's Sound, and
brought the ship, barques, and all their company to safe anchor,
except one man which died by God's visitation.
At our first arrival, after the ship rode at anchor, general, with
such company as could well be spared from the ships, in marching
order entered the land, having special care by exhortations that at
our entrance thereinto we should all with one voice, kneeling upon
our knees, chiefly thank God for our safe arrival; secondly, beseech
Him that it would please His Divine Majesty long to continue our
Queen, for whom he, and all the rest of our company, in this order
took possession of the country; and thirdly, that by our Christian
study and endeavour, those barbarous people, trained up in paganry
and infidelity, might be reduced to the knowledge of true religion,
and to the hope of salvation in Christ our Redeemer, with other
words very apt to signify his willing mind and affection towards his
prince and country, whereby all suspicion of an undutiful subject
may credibly be judged to be utterly exempted from his mind. All
the rest of the gentlemen, and others, deserve worthily herein their
due praise and commendation.
These things in order accomplished, our general commanded all the
company to be obedient in things needful for our own safeguard to
Master Fenton, Master Yorke, and Master Beast, his lieutenant, while
he was occupied in other necessary affairs concerning our coming
thither.
After this order we marched through the country, with ensign
displayed, so far as was thought needful, and now and then heaped up
stones on high mountains and other places, in token of possession,
as likewise to signify unto such as hereafter may chance to arrive
there that possession is taken in the behalf of some other prince by
those which first found out the country.
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