The Wind Shifted All Of A Sudden, And The Sea
Became So Rough And Stormy That The Yacht Had To Furl Her Sails, As Was
Done By The Vice-Admiral, Who Was Ahead Of The Faith, And By The
Fidelity.
In the ensuing night the yacht and vice-admiral made sail
again, without advertising the other two ships by signal, so that they
continued to lie to.
When day broke next morning, Captains Baltazar de
Cordes and Sebalt de Weert, of the Fidelity and Faith, were extremely
troubled at not seeing any of the other ships. De Weert, who was now the
senior captain, was also much troubled by the unprovided state of his
ship, having no master, only two old pilots, and a very small number of
seamen, mostly sick and weak through the cold and damp weather, though
they kept a fire burning night and day.
The N.E. wind became so violent on the 16th September, that the two
ships were every moment in danger of sinking. The gallery of the Faith
was rent open above an inch, and the sea broke so violently over the
Fidelity, that her men were almost constantly up to their knees in
water. She likewise sprung a leak, owing to which they were forced to
keep her pumps constantly going day and night, yet could hardly keep her
afloat. At last, after much search, the leak was found and stopt. In
this deplorable situation these two ships remained for twenty-four
hours, spooning under bare poles.
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