Our Said Captain And General Of
This Present Voyage And Company, Having The Year Before, With Two
Little Pinnaces To
His great danger, and no small commendations,
given a worthy attempt towards the performance thereof, is also
pressed when occasion
Shall be ministered to the benefit of his
prince and native country - to adventure himself further therein. As
for this second voyage, it seemeth sufficient that he hath better
explored and searched the commodities of those people and countries,
with sufficient commodity unto the adventurers, which, in his first
voyage the year before, he had found out.
Upon which considerations the day and year before expressed, he
departed from Blackwall to Harwich, where making an accomplishment
of things necessary, the last of May we hoisted up sails, and with a
merry wind the 7th of June we arrived at the islands called
Orchades, or vulgarly Orkney, being in number thirty, subject and
adjacent to Scotland, where we made provision of fresh water, in the
doing whereof our general licensed the gentlemen and soldiers, for
their recreation, to go on shore. At our landing the people fled
from their poor cottages with shrieks and alarms, to warn their
neighbours of enemies, but by gentle persuasions we reclaimed them
to their houses. It seemeth they are often frighted with pirates,
or some other enemies, that move them to such sudden fear. Their
houses are very simply builded with pebble stone, without any
chimneys, the fire being made in the midst thereof. The good man,
wife, children, and other of their family, eat and sleep on the one
side of the house, and their cattle on the other, very beastly and
rudely in respect of civilisation. They are destitute of wood,
their fire is turf and cow shardes. They have corn, bigge, and
oats, with which they pay their king's rent to the maintenance of
his house. They take great quantity of fish, which they dry in the
wind and sun; they dress their meat very filthily, and eat it
without salt. Their apparel is after the nudest sort of Scotland.
Their money is all base. Their Church and religion is reformed
according to the Scots. The fishermen of England can better declare
the dispositions of those people than I, wherefore I remit other
their usages to their reports, as yearly repairers thither in their
courses to and from Iceland for fish.
We departed here hence the 8th of June, and followed our course
between west and north-west until the 4th of July, all which time we
had no night, but that easily, and without any impediment, we had,
when we were so disposed, the fruition of our books, and other
pleasures to pass away the time, a thing of no small moment to such
as wander in unknown seas and long navigations, especially when both
the winds and raging surges do pass their common and wonted course.
This benefit endureth in those parts not six weeks, whilst the sun
is near the tropic of Cancer, but where the pole is raised to 70 or
80 degrees it continueth the longer.
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