I Landed,
And Went Six Miles By Guess Into The Country, And Found That The
Woods Were Fir, Pine-Apple,
Alder, yew, withy, and birch; here we
saw a black bear; this place yieldeth great store of birds, as
pheasant,
Partridge, Barbary hens, or the like, wild geese, ducks,
blackbirds, jays, thrushes, with other kinds of small birds. Of the
partridge and pheasant we killed great store with bow and arrows in
this place; at the harbour-mouth we found great store of cod.
The 1st of September at ten o'clock we set sail, and coasted the
shore with very fair weather. The third day being calm, at noon we
struck sail, and let fall a cadge anchor to prove whether we could
take any fish, being in latitude 54 degrees 30 minutes, in which
place we found great abundance of cod, so that the hook was no
sooner overboard but presently a fish was taken. It was the largest
and best refet fish that ever I saw, and divers fishermen that were
with me said that they never saw a more suaule, or better skull of
fish in their lives, yet had they seen great abundance.
The 4th of September, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, we anchored in
a very good road among great store of isles, the country low land,
pleasant, and very full of fair woods. To the north of this place
eight leagues we had a perfect hope of the passage, finding a mighty
great sea passing between two lands west. The south land to our
judgment being nothing but isles, we greatly desired to go into this
sea, but the wind was directly against us. We anchored in four
fathom fine sand.
In this place is fowl and fish mighty store.
The 6th of September, having a fair north-north-west wind, having
trimmed our barque, we purposed to depart, and sent five of our
sailors, young men, ashore to an island to fetch certain fish which
we purposed to weather, and therefore left it all night covered upon
the isle; the brutish people of this country lay secretly lurking in
the wood, and upon the sudden assaulted our men, which when we
perceived, we presently let slip our cables upon the halse, and
under our foresail bore into the shore, and with all expedition
discharged a double musket upon them twice, at the noise whereof
they fled; notwithstanding, to our very great grief, two of our men
were slain with their arrows, and two grievously wounded, of whom,
at this present, we stand in very great doubt; only one escaped by
swimming, with an arrow shot through his arm. These wicked
miscreants never offered parley or speech, but presently executed
their cursed fury. This present evening it pleased God farther to
increase our sorrows with a mighty tempestuous storm, the wind being
north-north-east, which lasted unto the 10th of this month very
extreme. We unrigged our ship, and purposed to cut-down our masts;
the cable of our shut anchor broke, so that we only expected to be
driven on shore amongst these cannibals for their prey.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 84 of 95
Words from 44082 to 44607
of 50368