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.
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