Hence We Judged That These Savages Had Slain Our Nine Men, Who
Were The Ringleaders Of Those Who Would Formerly
Have murdered our
captain and master, with the rest of their friends; so that God
evidently drew just judgment upon
Them, and we supplicated his divine
Majesty to be merciful to us.
While we lay in this harbour, our captain and master went one day in the
boat to see how far the river could be penetrated, that if need enforced
us, it might be known how far we might proceed by water. They found that
this river was only navigable by the boat for twenty miles. On their
return, the boat was sent to Penguin Island, by which we learnt that the
penguins dried to our entire satisfaction, and were in infinite numbers.
This penguin is shaped like a bird, having stumps only in place of
wings, by which it swims under water as swiftly as any fish. They live
upon smelts, which are found in vast abundance on this coast. In eating,
these penguins seem neither fish nor flesh. They lay large eggs; and the
bird is about as large as two ducks. All the time we remained at Port
Desire, we fared well on penguins and their eggs, young seals, young
gulls, and other birds of which I know not the names, all of which we
had in vast abundance. In this place also we found plenty of an herb
called scurvy-grass, which we eat fried in seal-oil along with eggs,
which so purified the blood, that it entirely removed all kind of
swellings, of which many had died, and restored us all to as perfect
health as when we first left England.
We remained in this harbour till the 22d of December, 1592, in which
time we had dried 20,000 penguins. In this time also the captain, with
the master and I, made some salt, by filling some holes in the rocks
with sea-water, which in six days was changed to salt by evaporation, it
being now Midsummer in this southern hemisphere. Thus did God feed us in
the desert, even as with manna from heaven. The 22d December we departed
from Port Desire for Penguin island, where, with great difficulty, we
got 14,000 of the dried birds on board, during which we had nearly lost
our captain; and had not our master been very expert in the set of the
tides, which ran in many cross directions, we had lost our ship.
We now shaped our course for Brazil, under a regulated allowance of
provisions, so that our victuals might last six months, in which time we
hoped we might get back to England, though our sails were very bad. This
allowance was, two ounces and a half of meal for each man, two days only
in the week, or five ounces for a week; three days a week, three
spoonfulls of oil were allowed to each man; two days a week, a pint of
peas among four men; and every day five dried penguins among four men,
with six quarts of water each day to four men.
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