Certain Honourable Personages And Worthy Gentlemen Of The Court And
Country, With Divers Worshipful Merchants Of London And Of The
West
Countrie, moved with desire to advance God's glory, and to seek the
good of their native country, consulting together
Of the likelihood
of the discovery of the North-West Passage, which heretofore had
been attempted, but unhappily given over by accidents unlooked for,
which turned the enterprisers from their principal purpose,
resolved, after good deliberation, to put down their adventures, to
provide for necessary shipping, and a fit man to be chief conductor
of this so hard an enterprise. The setting forth of this action was
committed by the adventurers especially to the care of Master
William Sanderson, merchant of London, who was so forward therein,
that besides his travel, which was not small, he became the greatest
adventurer with his purse, and commended unto the rest of the
company one Master John Davis, a man very well grounded in the
principles of the art of navigation, for captain and chief pilot of
this exploit.
Thus, therefore, all things being put in a readiness, we departed
from Dartmouth the 7th of June towards the discovery of the
aforesaid North-West Passage with two barques, the one being of
fifty tons, named the Sunshine, of London, and the other being
thirty-five tons, named the Moonshine, of Dartmouth. In the
Sunshine we had twenty-three persons, whose names are these
following: Master John Davis, captain; William Eston, master;
Richard Pope, master's mate; John Jane, merchant; Henry Davie,
gunner; William Crosse, boatswain; John Bagge, Walter Arthur, Luke
Adams, Robert Coxworthie, John Ellis, John Kelly, Edward Helman,
William Dicke, Andrew Maddocke, Thomas Hill, Robert Wats, carpenter,
William Russell, Christopher Gorney, boy; James Cole, Francis
Ridley, John Russel, Robert Cornish, musicians.
The Moonshine had nineteen persons, William Bruton, captain; John
Ellis, master; the rest mariners.
The 7th of June the captain and the master drew out a proportion for
the continuance of our victuals.
The 8th day, the wind being at south-west and west-south-west, we
put in for Falmouth, where we remained until the 13th.
The 13th the wind blew at north, and being fair weather we departed.
The 14th, with contrary wind, we were forced to put into Scilly.
The 15th we departed thence, having the wind north and by east,
moderate and fair weather.
The 16th we were driven back again, and were constrained to arrive
at New Grimsby, at Scilly; here the wind remained contrary twelve
days, and in that space the captain, the master, and I went about
all the islands, and the captain did plan out and describe the
situation of all the islands, rocks, and harbours to the exact use
of navigation, with lines and scale thereunto convenient.
The 28th, in God's name, we departed, the wind being easterly, but
calm.
The 29th very foggy.
The 30th foggy.
The 1st of July we saw great store of porpoises, the master called
for a harping-iron, and shot twice or thrice; sometimes he missed,
and at last shot one and struck him in the side, and wound him into
the ship; when we had him aboard, the master said it was a darley
head.
The 2nd we had some of the fish boiled, and it did eat as sweet as
any mutton.
The 3rd we had more in sight, and the master went to shoot at them,
but they were so great, that they burst our irons, and we lost both
fish, irons, pastime, and all; yet, nevertheless, the master shot at
them with a pike, and had well-nigh gotten one, but he was so
strong, that he burst off the bars of the pike and went away. Then
he took the boat-hook, and hit one with that; but all would not
prevail, so at length we let them alone.
The 6th we saw a very great whale, and every day after we saw whales
continually.
The 16th, 17th, and 18th we saw great store of whales.
The 19th of July we fell into a great whirling and brustling of a
tide, setting to the northward; and sailing about half a league we
came into a very calm sea, which bent to the south-south-west. Here
we heard a mighty great roaring of the sea, as if it had been the
breach of some shore, the air being so foggy and full of thick mist,
that we could not see the one ship from the other, being a very
small distance asunder; so the captain and the master, being in
distrust how the tide might set them, caused the Moonshine to hoist
out her boat and to sound, but they could not find ground in three
hundred fathoms and better. Then the captain, master, and I went
towards the breach to see what it should be, giving charge to our
gunners that at every blast they should shoot off a musket shot, to
the intent we might keep ourselves from losing them; then coming
near to the breach, we met many islands of ice floating, which had
quickly compassed us about. Then we went upon some of them, and did
perceive that all the roaring which we heard was caused only by the
rolling of this ice together. Our company seeing us not to return
according to our appointment, left off shooting muskets and began to
shoot falconets, for they feared some mishap had befallen us; but
before night we came aboard again, with our boat laden with ice,
which made very good fresh water. Then we bent our course toward
the north, hoping by that means to double the land.
The 20th, as we sailed along the coast, the fog brake up, and we
discovered the land, which was the most deformed, rocky, and
mountainous land that ever we saw, the first sight whereof did show
as if it had been in form of a sugar loaf, standing to our sight
above the clouds, for that it did show over the fog like a white
liste in the sky, the tops altogether covered with snow, and the
shore beset with ice a league off into the sea, making such irksome
noise as that it seemed to be the true pattern of desolation, and
after the same our captain named it the land of desolation.
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