ONE Major Gibbons, a Man well known in New England, a Gen⯑tleman of good Education, good Parts, and of good Converſation, (as the Author hath been credibly inform'd by them that knew him) was bound upon a Voyage to Sea, himſelf being Super Cargo with ſuch Commodities as thoſe Parts of America affords, after going out from Boſton ſeveral days, by hard Weather, and contrary Winds, the Ships Company were much diſtreſs'd, and by the Continuance of contrary Winds, Proviſions now begin [...]o fail them; and O how feeble do Spi⯑rits grow, when Bread, the ſtaff of Life fails! Now Hunger becomes more dread⯑ful to them, than the every Moment t [...]reatning Billows of the devouring [2]Ocean; and they that one while fear'd drowning, now fear ſtarving; they are brought to the laſt meal in the Barrel, and the laſt oyl in the Cruſe, and ſay, We will Eat this little that is left and dye: And now when they thought they had eaten the laſt, what conflicts muſt they needs have within themſelves, who knew not where to have another morſel to fortifie their tired and ſpent Spirits with the conſtant toil, and hard labour? How they look one upon another, as men already under a Sentence of Death? And by one ano⯑thers Looks, ſtrike terror to one anothers Hearts; They look on every ſide, Pſal 142. 4, 5. (as David ſays) I looked on my right hand, but there was no man that would know me; Refuge failed me, or periſhed from me. They look downwards, and ſee nothing but the Belly of deſtruction opening for them; they look upwards, the onely and laſt refuge and reme [...]y in this deplorable eſtate, and out of the depths they cry'd to the Lord.

But tho' they look out of the Ship, as Noah did out of his Ark, upon the waters and ſend forth the Dove of Prayer, that winged Meſſenger, to Heaven, yet ſhe brings no. Olive-branch, no Anſwer; the Waters aſſwage not, the Winds calm not, they are like the Prophets Servant, when [3]he bids him, 1 Kings 18.43. Go up now and look towards the Sea; and he went up and looked and ſaid, there is nothing; and this ſtrikes them into doleful and diſmal La⯑mentations; out of which Lamentations, at laſt ſprings up a tragical and ſorrowful Motion. The Motion is that which the Mariners in Jonah's Veſſel put in execu⯑tion, Come let us caſt Lots, &c. only with this difference, they caſt Lots to find out the Delinquent, and theſe which of them ſhould die firſt, to be a Sacrifice for ravenous Hunger to feed upon: Conclu⯑ding, as he in that caſe, John 11.50. It is expedient for us that one man ſhould die for the People, and that the whole Ships Company pe⯑riſh not. Life being ſweet, Skin for Skin, and all that a Man hath will he give for his Life, they at laſt bring it, through many a ſad debate, to a reſult, they caſt the Lot, the diſpoſing of which is of the Lord; one of the Company is arreſted by the Lot; here is the Condemn'd Priſoner: O but where is the Executioner to be found to act his Office upon a poor Innocent? Is it not Death to them now, to think who ſhall act this bloody part in the Tragedy? But before they fall upon their involuntary Executi⯑on, Major Gibbons calls them to Prayer, conſidering, that in the Moment the Lord is often ſeen, and that many times our Ex⯑tremity [4]proves God's Opportunity; he alſo asks the poor Man if he was willing to die; but O what a hard Queſtion is that to Anſwer! He replies, if it might preſerve the reſt of the Lives, he could be the more willing; to which he hath this An⯑ſwer; All Events are in the hands of God, we muſt not diſpute them; to Prayer they go; and, O ſure theſe Prayers muſt melt hearts of Adamant! and Behold, while they are at it, God ſends a viſible Commentary up⯑on that Scripture, Eſa. 58.9. Then ſhalt thou call, and the Lord ſhall Anſwer; thou ſhalt Cry, and he ſhall ſay here I am: For while they were calling, God was an⯑ſwering; there leaps a mighty Fiſh into the Boat; and as it is ſaid of the Whale that ſwallowed up Jonah, God prepared a Fiſh, ſo the Lord here prepared or pro⯑vided a Fiſh, that a poor creature might not be ſwallowed up: But O what joy was here at ſuch a token for good! it not only at preſent relieving and refreſhing their Hunger, which no Queſtion made them quick Cooks; but when they look'd upon the Finger of God in it, ſending it as an anſwer to Prayer, they conclude it an happy Omen of their Deliverance, and a pledge of approaching Mercy: but alas, it is not long before their Hearts grew faint again, their Countenances pale, [5]their Spirits ſink now as low as they were lifted up high; and now the poor Seamen are like their Ship, one while mounted up in hopes to Heaven, and another while they are ſunk down again in deſpair as low as Hell; they know not now of another Cake, another Morſel, they are reduc'd to their former Exigency, which brings them to a reſolve to ſteer in this ſtrait their old courſe; to Lots they go again the ſecond time, only they have ſuch an Honour for the Providence of God, they will not put him into condemnation, that God hath acquitted; the Lot now falls upon another Perſon, and O now they re⯑ceive the old trouble, and inteſtine Com⯑bats, how they ſhall find in their Hearts, to puniſh one, that never had offended any of them; and while one thinks of it, ſays he, Alas poor Man, what hath he done to deſerve this Sentence? another crys, Will not this Blood cleave to my Conſcience another day; tho' I went to this expedition a Preſt Soldier? another ſays, for his part he fees no way but Death, therefore he cannot take away Life, when he ſees not any Life can be preſerved by it: but they are call'd again to look up⯑ward, before they put the Knife to the Throat of this Sacrifice, and they remem⯑ber the laſt Encouragement to put Life into almoſt the Dead-mens Prayers; they [6]pray now with a pledge in their Hands, and are ready to tell God, the laſt time he gave them a Pawn, an Earneſt; and O it is not in vain to ſeek the Lord. For lo, while they are ſeeking to him, he is ſend⯑ing to them; as the Prayers fly to Hea⯑ven, Mercy is diſpatch'd upon the wing from Heaven.

O turn aſide, and ſee this great ſight, while they are praying! Behold a ſecond Anſwer from above! A great Bird lights and fixes her ſelf upon the Maſt, which one in the Company eſpies, and up he goes and there he ſtands till he took her with his Hand by the wing, and brought her down to the Company; and O what life from the dead is this to them a ſecond time! Sure they will hearken to the voice of the ſecond Sign, if not to the voice of the firſt; and now that which they hoped by the firſt Providence (viz.) that it was a fore-runner of their compleat Deli⯑verance; Now they are by this ſecond con⯑firm'd in the Faith, and now they begin to think (as I can eaſily imagine) if God will ſave them out of this diſtreſs, O what manner of Perſons they will become! what manner of Lives they will live! what Sacrifices of Thankſgiving they will offer up to God! but while they are thus think⯑ing they have no viſible hopes, but that it [7]muſt be a third Miracle that brings them out of this their miſerable condition; they have the ſame diſappointments upon them ſtill, only now they divert their Hunger all they can, by telling of, and remem⯑bring the Loaves, (as I may ſay) their experiences in this extremity of theirs, and comforting themſelves, that if they come to a third ſtrait, it would (they ho⯑ped) be an outlet from their preſent Mi⯑ſery and Calamity: They are reduc'd the third time to their former courſe and ſtrait, to caſt Lots; and when they were to go to the Heart-aking work, to put him to Death, upon whom the Lot fell, they go to their Old Friend, in a day of Adverſity, (to God) by hearty and hum⯑ble Prayer; And O now they do, as the Prophet's Man at the Sea ſide, look again and again, but alas Maſter they cry, there is nothing. Prayer is done, concluded, no⯑thing appears; O but as the Prophet's Man looked ſeven times, ſo ſays this good Man Major Gibbons, look again, as Jonah, I will look again towards his Holy Temple, (ſays he to one of the Company) Go up to the top, and ſee what you can eſpy; and at laſt he makes a Sail, (viz.) eſpies a Ship; this put new life into all their ſpirits; they bear up with the Veſſel, they Man their Boat, they deſire, in the manner of [8]periſhing humble Suppliants, to board them, which they are admitted; the Veſ⯑ſel proves a French Veſſel, yea, a French Pirate; Major Gibbons petitions him for a little Bread to ſuſtain their Lives, who had been ſeveral days wiſhing for Death, but could not find it in their extremity; and to take the Ship and Cargo. So ſweet is Life, that all that a Man hath will he give for his Life; and now behold, God draws forth to the poor Periſhing Men his beſt Wine at the laſt, nay, turns the Water of Affliction into the Wine of Conſolation. The Commander of the Veſſel knows the Major, and replies readily and chearful⯑ly, Major Gibbons, not one hair of your. Head ſhall periſh, nor any of your Ships Company, if it lie in my power either to ſupply you, or preſerve you. O the Wiſdom of God that hath ways we know not of, to relieve in the greateſt ſtraits, and cauſe himſelf to be ſeen in the Mount. The Commander of this French Pirate was one that ſome Years before Major Gibbons had ſhown ſignal Kindneſs to, when his Life was in danger at Boſton in New England. Thus the Lord appeared a God hearing Prayers in Extremities, which appearances are not to be forgot⯑ten in ſucceeding Generations. O that Men would praiſe the Lord for his Goodneſs, [9]and for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men.

Secondly, About the Year 1636. there ariſing a Storm and Tempeſt of troubles in the Church of Scotland, five Miniſters, eminent for Piety, Learning, and their Honourable ſucceſs in the Miniſtry, were ſo hard born under by a prevailing Party impoſing upon their Conſciences, that they were forc'd to Embarque themſelves for America; three of their Names were Mr. Levinſton, Mr. Mackleland, and Mr. Blaire, with two more whom my Au⯑thor could not call to mind.

Theſe good Men ſailed half the Chan⯑nel over, about 500 Leagues, where they met with great diſtreſs of Weather, which broke off the Rudder of their Ship, and occaſioned a deſperate Leak to ſpring in her, which expos'd them to imminent dan⯑ger; but they in this diſtreſs endeavour to hang on their Rudder again, but often were they fruſtrated in their attempt, to a total deſpair of effecting it. They alſo laboured with the like unſucceſsfulneſs to find out and ſtop the Leak; this poor Ships Crew had labour'd alſo by pumping to keep the Ship above Water, until all their few Hands were feeble, and all their Hearts faint; ſo that as ſo many deſpair⯑ing Perſons of Life, they ceaſe all endea⯑vours, [10]and yield themſelves to Death, ex⯑pecting every Moment to be Entombed in the Belly of the Devouring Deep; during the time of this their great Di⯑ſtreſs, the Miniſters kept on their courſe, as at other times of Worſhip, (viz.) the reading of a Chapter in courſe, and taking obſervations from it, with Prayers and Preaching, which they did by turns; at the criſis of this deplorable caſe, it fell to be the Lot of Mr. Mackleland to per⯑form this Exerciſe, a Man Auſteer in his Life, reſerv'd in his Speech, and of great Piety, who was often obſerv'd to let fall many remarkable Prophetical Expreſſions of future Events; the Chapter that at that time came to be read in courſe by him, was the 23 of Exodus, which he had read all along (until he came to the 12th verſe) where he made a full ſtop; the verſes run thus;

And Moſes beſought the Lord his God, and ſaid, Lord, why doth thy Wrath wax hot againſt thy People, which thou haſt brought out of the Land of Egypt with great Power, and a mighty Hand? Wherefore ſhould the Egyptians ſay, for miſchief did he bring them out to ſlay them in the Mountains, and to con⯑ſume them from the face of the Earth? Turn from thy ſevere Wrath, and repent of this E⯑vil againſt thy People,— upon the reading [11]of theſe verſes over again, he declared to them, the Caſe which Moſes was here in⯑terceeding for, compared with his Expo⯑ſtulation in the 12 verſe, did parallel their caſe, and conſidering the happy Event of that Argument which Moſes uſed (men⯑tioned in the 14 verſe, which runs thus:) and the Lord repented of the Evil which he thought to do unto his People—he could not but comfortably hope, that they might have the ſame Effect: Nay he goes fur⯑ther, and his Spirit was raiſed into a pe⯑remptory prediction, that he durſt aſſure them from his great Lord and Maſter, that not one Hair of his Head ſhall fall to the ground; after this he went to Prayer, urging God with the ſame Argument, and then roſe up comfortably, aſſuring his ſtedfaſtneſs in believing the ſame; he adviſes the Seamen and the Company in the Ship to refreſh themſelve by taking ſome Meat, the long faſling and hard labour having much infeebled them. Then he encouraged them to make ano⯑ther attempt to faſten the Rudder, with⯑out which they could not poſſibly make towards any Point for Shore. He after adviſed them to clear the Ship, as well as they could, from Water by Pumping, which they did happily effect, the Leak being ſtopt providentially of it ſelf,— [12]whether it was ſome noak of a Plank ſtarted by the diſtreſs of Weather which occaſion'd the Leak, and by the ſurges of the Sea, clapt into the place again, or what it was elſe could not be known. But however this looks like Life from the Dead to theſe poor Men, who had received but a little before Sentence of Death in themſelves, that they might truſt in him who raiſeth the Dead. Soon after this, God who had heard in Hea⯑ven their Tears and Prayers, Commands the Wind to Tack about to the Weſt, and to blow ſo ſtrong a Gale that they were forc'd to bear up before it, and it continued ſo long, that it brought them back to the North of Ireland, where they continued ſome time, altho' but ſhort, they were very inſtrumental in the Con⯑verting of many Souls, which ſeed-plot remains to this Day; and ſoon after they paſſed into Scotland. This Relation was given by ſeveral Miniſters of the North of Ireland: alſo the Reader may take no⯑tice, the Author of that Book called the Fulfilling of the Scriptures, page 487. men⯑tions this remarkable Providence, tho' not ſo largely, with theſe two additional, but very conſiderable circumſtances; firſt, That a poor Seaman was made the in⯑ſtrument to preſerve the ſame Veſſel, by [13]faſtening the Rudder, whoſe Company they had all ſhun'd, others having given it over. Secondly, Several Paſſengers being Aboard, who Shipt themſelves for America, upon only external accounts, expecting a fat Soyl, and outward advan⯑tage in that Place, and not as the others upon the account of Conſcience, to en⯑joy the purity of Ordinances; they did all Die upon the Sea ſave one, being five in Number. And who is ſo Blind, as can⯑not ſee here the out-ſtretch'd Arm of an Omnipotent God, commanding delive⯑rance for his poor diſtreſſed, perſecuted, praying, believing Servants, and alſo for all them that ſailed with them? O who would not Pray at Sea, and truſt in him who raiſes the dead in the ſaddeſt of their Extremities and Diſtreſs! and ſpeaks forth much of the power and goodneſs of God, calling upon all to truſt in him, let the dangers and ſtraits be never ſo great.

3. A Veſſel of ours about the Year 1636. being at Newfound-Land a Fiſhing, being ſomewhat of the lateſt in the year, until the Ice came in great flakes; and being ready to hoiſe Sail for their return home, they ſent out in the Boat ſix of the Men to weigh their Anchor; but while they were about it, a ſad Providence pre⯑vents them, a great flake of Ice interpoſes [14]between them and their Ship, and car⯑ries them adrift, ſo that by all means that they and the Ship could uſe, they could not recover their Veſſel again, whereby they were expos'd to an inevitable ruine, neither having Food, nor any other Ac⯑commodation to keep them warm; they having continued thus three days and three nights, they began to be Hunger⯑ſtarv'd, and accounting themſelves all dead Men, they began to conſult one with another what courſe to take; they at laſt, tho' with great regret and grief, reſolve one of them muſt die to become Food for the reſt; each Perſon begg'd to have it his Lot to die firſt, to be freed from that torment that they languiſhed under; ſo that they were forced to de⯑termine it by Lot: He upon whom the Lot fell, deſir'd to go to one end of the Boat, there to recommend his Soul to God by Prayer, before he dyed; the reſt being in a deep Agony upon the appre⯑henſion of ſhedding the Blood of one of their Comrades: But while they were ſat together, lamenting and imploring God's favour to prevent ſuch a fact, ac⯑cording to that they wiſh'd and deſir'd, the Perſon ſeparated by Lot for Death, dyed upon the place where he was pray⯑ing, which in their deplorable Condition [15]occaſioned great Joy to the reſt, that hereby they were not forced againſt their Wills to take his Life; ſo looking upon this as a good Omen, they proceeded to ſatisfie their Hungers upon the dead Body: The Boat was ſtill a-drift, not frozen up; ſo that by that time their Food was ſpent, they were brought aſhore many Leagues [...]o the Northward of New-England, where the five landed alive, and the poor Bar⯑barians did commiſerate them, and help them as they could, three of them died with the Diſtreſs they had been in, the other two made a ſhift to get to New-England, and ſo at laſt, by a good Hand upon them, came to their Habitations in the Weſt of England, having both loſt their Heels with the Extremity of the Cold in the Boat. This Relation my Author had from one of theſe two Sea-men, with whom he came afterwards a Paſſenger from Ireland, to whom he ſhew⯑ed his Heels ſo loſt.

4. A ſmall Veſſel about 45 Tun, the Maſter's Name Philip Hangare, coming upon the Coaſt of New-England, they ſuddenly ſprang a Leak and ſo foundred. There were in this poor miſcarrying Veſ⯑ſel 18 Seamen and Paſſengers; 12 of the Men got into the Long-boat, and as that was ſuddenly brought to their Minds in [16]this Surpriſe they threw into their Boat alſo ſome ſmall matters of Proviſions, but they were wholly without Fire: Theſe 12 Men at that time of the Year about Michaelmas, (and as Paul ſaid in his Voy⯑age, Sailing was become Dangerous) ſailed five hundred Leagues, and were to a Mi⯑racle preſerved all that time in this ſmall Boat, five Weeks; but it pleaſed the Lord, who appears in our ſtraits moſt, to ſend them great Relief, by cauſing ſome flying Fiſh to fall into the Boat, which they eat raw, and were unto them more accepta⯑ble than the greateſt Rarities and Dain⯑ties at another time; God's Providence now proving the Caterer, they catch'd a Shark, and that ravenous Fiſh that uſes to prey upon Men now becomes a Prey to theſe poor diſtreſſed Creatures; but they were glad of Food in the want of Fire, and have an Heat in their Stomachs to eat that raw, and digeſt at this time what would have made them ſick at other times; but alas, another Want they had, was Drink as well as Fire, but they were forced to open the Belly of this Shark, and ſuck his Blood for Drink; at laſt, that God who hath a Deſire to the Work of his own Hands, gives them Hopes to releaſe them out of this inſupportable Miſery, by letting them come to a Diſcovery of [17]Land in the Weſt-Indies; but alas, they were ſo Weak, that when they came a⯑ſhore, one or two of them Dyed; but moſt of them liv'd to declare the Works of the Lord. This the Author had from one of the 12 that were thus miraculouſ⯑ly preſerv'd, but ſince caſt away at Sea.

5. Captain Jonas Clark of New-Eng⯑land, going to Virginia, the Veſſel was Caſt away in a ſtrange amazing manner, about two hours before day, among the Indians, where the Ship-wrackt Men lay [...]ſhore in great fear; but three days after [...]hey thought to get their Ship off again; [...]o which end the Maſter, with ſome o⯑ [...]hers, went into the Boat, they came 60 Fathom from the ſhore, where there a⯑ [...]oſe a great Sea, and broke in upon them; [...]ut the ſecond Sea came and turn'd the Boat up; four Men under Water, all were [...]rowned, but Capt. Clark, who was kept [...]nder water by one of the Men, till his [...]reath was near gone, but then God ap⯑ [...]ear'd and ſet him at liberty from him in moſt Miraculous way, and enabled him [...] ſwim to the ſhore; they that were a⯑ [...]ve now, were in great ſtraits and per⯑ [...]lexities, not knowing what to do, but [...]et ſome of their Eyes were up to God; [...]t laſt they unanimouſly reſolve to Tra⯑ [...]el, and when they had Travelled one [18]Night, and part of a Day, meeting with many Swamps and thick places, ſo that all hope fail'd them of going along, ſo they ſtood ſtill as (wayfaring Men) aſto⯑niſh'd, not knowing what courſe to take; and tho' before they were afraid of any Indians, now they were glad to pray to the Lord for the ſight of an Indian, which in this extremity and perplexity, within half an hour, the Lord was pleaſed to grant: The Indian was all alone, which was obſervable alſo; when they got to him, they asked the way to the Engliſh, and they did perſuade him by entreaty to go along with them, but within one hours time, he carried them to a Town of the Indians, which did ſadly fright and amaze them; but they ſtill looked up to the Lord to help and ſave them; and at laſt they got to the Engliſh, and ſo were preſerved. This Relation the Author had from Captain Clark's own Hand, a Perſon of known Godlineſs and Integrity.

6. The laſt Providence called to mind a ſtrange and ſtupendous paſſage of a Godly Gentlewoman, who in the firſt breaking forth of the Rebellion in Ireland, was forc'd to fly for her Life, with ſome other Perſons in her Company; eſpecial⯑ly three Children, one of them upon her Breaſt: But alas, theſe poor trembling [19]Travellers had not gone long before they were ſtripp'd Naked by the Iriſh, who to admiration ſpar'd their Lives; but paſſing on to the foot of a River, others met'em, and would have caſt 'em into the River; but this Godly Woman not being diſ⯑may'd, ask'd a little liberty to Pray, and as ſhe lay on frozen ground Naked, ſhe got a little reſolution not to go on her own Feet to ſo unjuſt a Death; upon which having call'd her, upon her reſo⯑lution, they drag'd her by the Heels a⯑long the ground, with the reſt of the Company; ſhe turns upon them, and on her Knees ſays, You ſhould I am ſure be Chriſtians, and Men I ſee you are; in taking away our miſerable Lives, you do us a plea⯑ſure; but know, as we never wronged you, nor yours, you muſt die alſo your ſelves, and one day give an account of this Cruelty to the Judge of Heaven and Earth. Suddenly up⯑on which, an Iriſh Prieſt ſays, Let us not take their Lives, but we will put them in this Iſland of the Lake; a Boat being at the River, all the eight Naked, and without Meat, are turn'd into that Iſland, where after four days ſtaying, ſome of the Com⯑pany dy'd with Hunger and Cold, but not this Woman, nor any of her Chil⯑dren; a day after, the two Boys found the Hyde of a Beaſt which had been [20]kill'd at the Root of a Tree, which they and the Mother endeavour'd to caſt ove [...] them; then lying upon the Snow, the next day a little Boat goes by, to whom ſhe calls for God's ſake to take her out but they refus'd, being Iriſh; ſhe deſir'd a little Bread, but they had none; ſhe beg [...] a Coal of Fire, which ſhe obtain'd, fo [...] they had ſome Fewel in the Boat, an [...] thus with ſome fallen Chips, made a Fire; and the Boys taking a piece of the Hide, laid it upon the Coals, and bega [...] to gnaw the Leather; but alas, withou [...] an extraordinary Divine ſupport, wha [...] could this do? Thus they liv'd ten day [...] without any viſible ſupplies, and tha [...] good Woman profeſt it was by Faith and Joy in God ſhe liv'd; nor had ſhe any Bread but Ice and Snow, nor any Drink but Water, but ſhe thought God put more ſubſtance in it, and found it as it were clammy. The next day a Boa [...] carried her out to the ſide of the Band⯑water, where yet ſhe had been loſt, bu [...] that ſhe could not ſuffer to ſee her Chil⯑dren Die in her ſight; and therefore (tho [...] the two Boys were young, and ſo Starv'd, that they had no ſtrength) ſhe preſſed them to go out of her ſight, under pre⯑tence of ſeeking ſome Fire; the poo [...] Children had not gone far until they ſaw [21]2 or 3 great Dogs eating a Man who had been kill'd; the Children were not afraid of the Dogs, (who needed not fear any thing but to live in ſuch a Condition) and one of them came running, and leaped upon one of the Children, with⯑out doing him the leaſt hurt, and would run a little before, and then tarry until the Children came up, and ſo led them on to an Houſe whence Smoak appear'd, which was an Iriſh Man's, Protected by the Engliſh in Antrum, by which means they were marvellouſly preſerv'd, and the Mother ſent for, and ſuccour'd by a par⯑ty from Antrum. Altho' this Providence be not a Sea-Deliverance, yet it is a re⯑markable preſervation from Danger by Water, and Hunger by Land.

7. In the firſt ſetling of the Bahama Iſlands off of the Cape of Florida, about the Year 1642. there were at that preſent great troubles in the Burmudas, one Cap⯑tain Sale, who had been Governour the Year before, comes for London, and here informing ſome of his Acquaintance, and Perſons of Worth and Eſtate, how things then ſtood, they undertake for him, and got him a Ship, and all things neceſſary for the diſcovery of theſe Iſlands which he had inform'd them of, ſo they proceeded to Burmudas, where they took [22]in ſeveral Paſſengers, Capt. Sale being Chief, and Capt. Lane and his Family, who came from London with him as his Aſſiſtant in the management of the Deſign; ſo they, in purſuit of the Voy⯑age, came to an Iſland call'd Cicatra, he lay down in the Platts, where they could not at preſent find an Harbour. So they ſent out their Shallop upon a Diſcovery, which upon Return, inform'd them of a better place to Ride in.—But ſending out the Shallop again upon a Diſcovery, before ſhe Return'd, there aroſe a dread⯑ful Storm, that carried her immediately upon the Rocks, and ſtav'd her, with ve⯑ry much difficulty moſt of the People were ſav'd, and ſome Proviſions. Then were they Reduc'd to very great ſtraits formidable to Fleſh and Blood, a Barren Iſland, no Inhabitants, no likelihood of Relief, little Proviſions left; in this great ſtrait moſt of them reſolv'd to Travel up to the Weſtern end of the Iſland, and there to abide. Capt. Lane and his Family, and Son, who was Lieutenant, reſolv'd to ſeek for ſome kind of Proviſions, and ſo ſtaid on the Iſland. But Captain Sale and one Mr. Bounly, who had been Maſter of the Ship, and ſome other Seamen, and one Mr. Shadwel, in all eight, reſolv'd to go [23]to Virginia, and took what Proviſions they could get, which was one Shark; but before they made to the Land, they were in very great want; for from this Iſland from whence they departed to Virginia, was 300 Leagues: In their now great Extremity, Providence car'd for them, ſo that they got another Shark, and were glad to eat him Raw. They were 11 days going to Virginia, and the Boat a very little one, that they could ſcarcely Steer in her for fear of Danger. Yet the Lord, in this deep Deſtreſs, made his Arm bare for their Salvation, and brought them ſafe to a place call'd Nuſe⯑mum, to one Mr. Rich. Brunkets Houſe, where they were courteouſly Entertain⯑ed; and after the Relation upon what account they were put to theſe Hard⯑ſhips and Neceſſities, Capt. Sale had a Veſſel provided Laden with Neceſſaries, to go for Cicatra, to relieve thoſe they had left there in ſuch Diſtreſs, and they arrived there. And O now what Com⯑fort muſt this be, after ſuch long Wiſh⯑ing and gradual Dying, to ſee that there was no Hopes of Life brought to them; but ſeveral of them were ſtarv'd to Death before their arrival. Capt. Lane is now ſent to fetch ſome Proviſions, who had been in unſpeakable Extremity. He [24]came down in a little Boat, his Son alſo, the Lieutenant, and two Servants, but when they had gotten in their Proviſi⯑on, and going home in hopes of a new Life; Behold, the ſtupendous Provi⯑dence of God, all of a ſudden Death creeps in and arreſts them. For in a narrow place where the Tyde runs ſwiftly, the Boat is ſunk, all are drown'd but one Man, who carried the deſolate Widow the ſad Tydings! What an un⯑welcome Meſſenger this was you may may eaſily conjecture; about 3 Months after, arrived a Veſſel to them (the Ma⯑ſter of her my Author,) and ſo Mrs. Lane, her Son and Daughter, Maid-ſervant and Man-ſervant, were all brought up a⯑bout 40 Miles, where they were Enter⯑tain'd by my Author for 6 Weeks, and gave an account of ſome notable Paſſa⯑ges of God's Providence in preſerving them. Worthy never to be forgotten! Her Husband and the Men went out to ſee what they could get for Food every Day, and they had for the moſt part juſt for the Day, and ſhe told my Author, that ſhe as a tender-hearted Mother, would lay ſomething by for her young Children; but ſhe obſerv'd, that the next Day they never got any thing.

[25]And thus Providence train'd them up in the School of Faith; but further ſhe gave an account of one remarkable thing. In the laſt day of the week, upon a time it prov'd a very ſtormy Day, and they being abroad a hunting for ſome ſupport, could get nothing. The Husband and Son come home very much troubled, and the Men that were gone into the Woods they could get nothing; and they being very much troubled, one took up a Reſolution not to come home, know⯑ing there Captain would not ſuffer them to go and hunt on the Lord's-Day; on the other hand they thought he would wonder what was become of them, and fear leſt evil had befallen them; ſo they alter their Reſolution to come home, but empty of Relief; this very Evening before the Sabbath in this perplexity of thoughts, there fly over their Heads three gray Geeſe; a wonder it was, for ſuch Geeſe were never before ſeen there nor after. O ſays ſhe to her Husband, that we had ſome of them, againſt to mor⯑row! obſerving they lighted in a Bottom, ſhe acquaints her Husband, he ſays they have no ſhot left. O ſays ſhe, here is a Porrenger, melt it or cut it into peices, which he did for expedition, and charg'd his Peice, and at the firſt ſhot kill'd them [26]all.—Theſe things, and many more my Author had from her own Mouth, after her marvellous Preſervation. O that Men would Praiſe the Lord, for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men!

8. We have a very wonderful Delive⯑rance recorded, an honeſt poor Man in Maulden in Eſſex, one Gregory Crow, who with his Man and Boy, was in his Boat going to fetch Fullers-Earth; but by the way meeting a Storm his Boot was driven upon a bank of ſand, and there ſunk; The Men were glad to hang upon the Maſt, but poor Crow ſeeing his New-Teſtament in the water, which he priz'd highly, caught it up, and took it into his Boſom; the tyde being gone, they were left upon the Sand, at leaſt ten Miles from Land; now in this great Diſtreſs they made their prayers to the Lord, that he would ſend ſome means of Deliverance. For now within half an hour it would be Flood, but in this little time before Flood, they found a Cheſt wherein was five pounds ſix Shillings eight pence, but honeſt Crow caſt it into the Sea again ſaying, If the Lord will be pleas'd to ſave our lives he will provide us a little food; and ſo they went again up to the Maſt, where they to Admiration hung by the Arms and Leggs for ten hours together, only the [27]Boy was ſo weary, and beaten with the Waves that he fell off, and was drowned; now their fears increaſed upon them, and they knew not what to do. But Crow adviſes his Man to cut down the Maſt, and when the Flood comes again, to ſit upon it, and ſo, ſays he, it may pleaſe God to drive us to ſome Ship; this Counſel was taken, they commit them⯑ſelves to God upon the Maſt, and thus continu'd Tueſday Night Wedneſday and Wedneſday Night; in which time the man was ſo tir'd out with Hunger, Watching, and Cold, that he dyed; now was Crow left alone in this ſad and deplorable Con⯑dition, he pray'd now the more earneſtly for ſome Succour and Relief, but durſt not Sleep, leſt the Sea ſhould beat him off the Maſt, and when this diſtreſs'd mi⯑ſerable object was almoſt ſpent, his fleſh ſodden with Sea water, and his Eyes al⯑moſt clos'd up with Salt, now in his Ex⯑tremity the Lord makes it his oppor⯑tunity, and ſteps in by his Providence, preſents a Ship going for Antwerp: (ob⯑ſerve here the Finger of God:) The wind not being favourable ſhe was driven out of the way, and eſpyed ſomething a far off in the Sea, but ſuppoſing it to be ſome Fiſher-boy ſteer'd from it. Crow ſeeing this, held up his Cap and ſhaked [28]it over his head, whereby at length they were mov'd to go to him, and ſo they took him in; when he came into the Ship, being half dead, careful of his New-Teſtament, he pluckt it out of his Boſom and gave it to ſome to dry. They in the Ship were careful of him, and with great difficulty recover'd him, and carry'd him with them to Antwerp, where the fame of his being miraculouſly deliver'd, drew many to ſee him, and relieve him with neceſſaries. Fox's Book of Martyrs.

9. A Ship of Holland being driven a⯑gainſt her will, came to a Place call'd Zembla, where the Pole is elevated 76 degrees; they among many delays, and great dangers, ſcarce reach'd the Aurange Iſlands; for now they were ſet faſt in a Conſolidated body of con⯑tinu'd Ice, which threaten'd them every moment; at laſt being reduc'd to their ultimate hope, they reſolve to return the ſame way they came, but now they find the Ship quite frozen up, not far from ſhore, and now they think they ſhould winter in Zembla and wait for a better Seaſon, wherefore taking out Boards and Planks, they built for themſelves, and their Stuff, a poor ſhelter, and by a good Providence, the Tide bad thrown up a good quantity of Timber, they not [29]knowing from whence it came, it prov'd a great advantage to them during their abode; here they had continual fights with Bears, which ſometimes were driven away with making great out-crys, other whiles with Shot; they found their fleſh unwholeſome for food. (For in this place the Maritime wild Beaſts, are the food to the wild Beaſt of the Land) the fat of the Bears they made uſe of to burn for lights in the night; theſe poor crea⯑tures were at laſt, after all other Humane Benefits, left by the Sun, in this Barren Country, and left amongſt none but wild Beaſts: The vaſt Mountains of Snow, with great difficulty they re⯑move, leſt the Habitation ſhould be over⯑whelm'd, and if at any time they went forth, their jaws were ſo benum'd they could ſcarce recover their former heat; now the Bears in the Dark, being dull of ſight did not venture out to diſturb them, but multitudes of Foxes, which they took in Traps, and made of them both Victuals and Rayment; and yet after all theſe dangers and difficulties God pre⯑ſerved them, though indeed ſome of them dyed, they were 12 of them: The chief of them was one Jacob Hamskerk, who returned afterwards to Amſterdam. Grotius in his Annals.

10. In the Year 1616, a Flemming named Pickman, well known in England and Holland, for the art he had for get⯑ting out of the Sea the great Guns of that Spaniſh Fleet that was forced upon the Coaſt of Ireland and Scotland, in the Year 1588, coming from Dronthem in Norway, laden with Boards, was over⯑taken by a Calm, during which, the current of the Sea carryed him on a Rock or a little Iſland towards the ex⯑tremity of Scotland, where he was in ſome danger of being caſt away; to a⯑void a wrack, he commanded ſome of his Men to go into the Shallop, and to tow off the Ship: theſe having done ſo, would needs go upon a certain Rock to ſeek for Eggs, but as ſoon as they were got up into it, they eſpy'd a man, whence they imagine there were others lay there about, and that he had made an Eſcape thither to avoid ſome Pirats which might Surprize their Ship, ſo that they made all the haſte they could to the Shallop, and return'd to the Ship; but the Calm con⯑tinuing, and the current of the Sea driv⯑ing the Veſſel againſt the Iſland, they were forc'd to get into the Long-boat and Tow her off again; the Man they ſaw before, was in the mean time come to the brink of the Iſland, and made ſigns [31]to them with his hands, entreating them to come nearer; and falling on his Knees, and joyning his Hands together, he beg'd Relief from them; at laſt com⯑ing near the Iſland, they ſaw ſome⯑thing more like a Ghoſt than a living Perſon, a body ſtark Naked, black, hairy, of a meager and deform'd Countenance hollow and diſtorted Eyes, which rais'd ſuch Compaſſion in them, that they pro⯑fer'd to take him into their Boat; at laſt with ſome difficulty they took him in; they found upon the Iſland no Graſs nor Trees, nothing for Food, nor any ſhelter, but the ruins of a boat, wherewith he had made him an Hut, under which he might be cover'd from Rain and injuries of the Weather; when they came to ask him who he was, and how he came into that un-inhabited place, he reply'd to them he was an Engliſh Man, and that a year before he was to go from England to Dublin in Ireland in the Paſſage-Boat, and that they were taken by a French-Pyrate, who by a Storm that immediately aroſe, was forc'd to let go the Paſſage-Boat, left us to the mercy of the Waves, which carryed us between Ireland and Scotland, into the main Sea, expecting to be caſt away every minute, as at laſt we were: For the Bark being ſplit againſt [32]the Rock, where you took me in, I eſca⯑ped with one of my Comrades into the I⯑ſland, in a more wretched Condition than if ſwallow'd up by the Sea, who then had been deliver'd out of the Extremities we were in for want of Meat and Drink; of ſome of the Boards of our Boat we made the Hutt you ſaw, and we took ſome Sea⯑mews which we ſet a drying in the Wind and Sun, and ſo eat them raw; we found alſo in the Crevices of the Rock, by the Sea ſide, ſome Eggs: Thus were we kept from ſtarving; but what we thought moſt inſupportable, was Thirſt; for there was no Water but what fell from Heaven; we liv'd thus ſix Weeks comforting one another, and finding ſome Eaſe in our common Misfortune, till that being left a⯑lone, it began to grow inſupportable to me; for one Day, awaking in the Morn⯑ing and miſſing my Comrade, I fell into ſuch a Deſpair, that I had ſome thought of caſting my ſelf head long, and ſo put a final Period to that Affliction, whereof I had but endur'd the one half while I had a Friend ſuffering with me: I know not what became of him, but I am of O⯑pinion that he fell into the Sea, ſeeking for Eggs; I left with him my Knife, with which we kill'd the Sea-Dogs and the Mews upon which we lived; ſo I was [33]forc'd to get out of my Hutt a great Nail, which I made a ſhift to ſharpen upon the Rock, that it ſerv'd me for a Knife: I was alſo forc'd to lade a little Stick with a little Sea-dog Fat, and put it out of a Crevice of my Hutt, and ſo got ſome Mews to keep me from ſtarving: I liv'd in this Condition and Solitude Eleven Months, and was reſolv'd to end my days in it, when God ſent you to deliver me out of the greateſt Miſery that ever Man was in; and this Seaman after this Miſe⯑ry and miraculous Preſervation, liv'd to return to England. Ambaſſadors Travels.

A Remarkable Providence of God in wonder⯑fully preſerving of Eleven or Thirteen poor diſtreſſed Mens Lives.

11. In the Year 68. a Ketch ſailed from Salom in New England for the Barbadoes; and when they came into the Latitude of 35. it began to look like foul Weather, ſo they took in their Top-ſail, and becauſe it was towards Night, they ſtruck down the Main Sail, and raſed it; and all this time there was but little Wind (which was Remarkable, if the enſuing Story be obſerv'd) but ſtill it looked like bad Wea⯑ther; ſo they ſent up one to tallow the Maſt, and made no great haſte to ſet ſail; the Man at the top thinks he ſees ſome [34]black thing float upon the Sea, and look⯑ing upon it very fixtly, he conceives it to be a Boat, and ſo calls to the Men below, ſo they haſtned to hoiſe Sail and make to⯑wards it; and when they came to them, there was a Long-boat with 11 or 13 Men, (my Author could not abſolutely remember the juſt Number) which poor diſtreſſed Creatures had been bound for Virginia; and the Ship in which they were, prov'd very Leaky, and ſo exceedingly increas'd, that in a very little time ſhe was ready to ſink; ſo all Hands haſten'd to get out the Boat, but the Maſter ſtept into the Cabin to fetch a Compaſs, and took ſome Canvas, a Sail-needle and Twine, which he thought might be uſe⯑ful to them in their Need and Extremity; but while this poor induſtrious Man was endeavouring to be uſeful to ſome other Mens Lives, he was in danger to loſe his own; for the Boat was put off and the Ship was ſinking, ſo he crys to them in this Di⯑ſtreſs, if they would leave him, and there let him periſh; ſo they came back and took him in; they had in their Boat a Capſtern-Bar, which they made uſe of for a Maſt, and a piece of Canvas for a Sail, and ſo ſailed afore the Wind, and had no kind of Food; and now comes dreadful and inexpreſſible Diſtreſs upon them making them wiſh for [35]Death it ſelf to give them a Deliverance, now all Hopes of Relief fail'd them; thus they continu'd five Days, ſome grew Lame, others Feeble, and all much Diſ⯑hearten'd by Deſpair of Life; and now upon the 6th Day they had concluded to caſt Lots for their Lives who ſhould die to preſerve others; and they put their Reſolution into Execution, and that poor Creature upon whom the Lot fell, begs for Time; but alas, what will a Reprieve be in this Caſe, where there is no hope of Relief; but O what difficult Work is it to die? what a ſtrait was here? Live he could not, and die he could not; well, a little time is defer'd, and behold a Won⯑der-working God appears now for him and for them all; before Night they e⯑ſpy'd this Ketch, which rais'd them all to Admiration; but they had Fears in this Diſtreſs that the Ketch did not ſee them; but when they perceiv'd the Ketch made to them, O what a new Life did it put into theſe dying Men; ſo they all got ſafe aboard: And ſee here the Goodneſs of God: In one Hour after there aroſe a moſt dreadful Storm which continu'd for forty Hours, and all of them ſafely arriv'd at Barbadoes.

The Maſter's Name of the Ketch was Thomas Woodberry of Salom. This the Au⯑thor [36]had from a very known Perſon of In⯑tegrity and Godlineſs, now living at Salom.

12. In the Year 1606. in the Wars be⯑twixt the Netherlands and the Spaniards, upon the Spaniſh Ocean, fell out this ob⯑ſervable and remarkable Action, taken notice of by Grotius, in his Annnals of the Low-Country Wars. Admiral Hauteen being ſent to intercept the Spaniſh Fleet, coming from America and the Indies, he had with him four and twenty Veſſels; but of theſe, ſix were beaten back by Tempeſts; ſoon after Fraſciardo, with eight great Gallions, having a proſpe⯑rous Gale, fell upon them unprovided, and e're they were aware; but the Gal⯑leys that were with him not being driven by the Wind, kept by the Shore; but one of them being grappl'd with a Ship of Zealand, that was next the Admiral, ſo affrighted the reſt, that as ſoon as they ſaw it, they in the very beginning of the Night, retreated with all haſte. Hauteen thus left by his Companions, being a Man of an undaunted Spirit, for two whole Days did not leave off the Fight, though moſt of his Men were in that time loſt; but with his torn Ship caſting off all fear of Danger, protracted the Victory; but after he ſaw no hopes of Relief, and that the Waves pour'd in upon him, that none [37]of them might come alive into the Ene⯑mies Hands; at once they unanimouſly agreed upon a reſolute and terrible Acti⯑on: For kneeling down upon their Knees, they like dying but deſperate Men, beg of God, that he would pleaſe to pardon them in that they ſought to ſhun the Mockeries and Cruelties of the Spani⯑ards, by that ſad and lamentable Death; ſo they ſet Fire to the Gunpowder, by which Blow 60 Men were kill'd, 2 half dead lived a little while, being taken up by the Spaniards, with Wonder beholding their dreadful Countenances, and their Words, with their ſtrange Re⯑ſolution and Obſtinacy in Death.

13. In the Year 1607. about the time when the Plantations of Virginia be⯑gan to be a little ſettled by King James, ſome Britains went to Guyana, but a dan⯑gerous Sedition aroſe in the Voyage, and the Ship being loſt, part of the Company remained in the Iſland, where continual⯑ly vexing the Barbarians with their un⯑kind Uſage, they at laſt were ſet upon by War as Enemies; by force of which, and the want of Victuals, they commit⯑ted themſelves to Sea in a Boat made on⯑ly of an hollow Tree; there theſe poor diſtreſſed Creatures were toſſed with con⯑tinual Tempeſts betwixt Deſpair and [38]Hope of Life; but at laſt they were dri⯑ven upon the Rocks, after great Miſery endured by them in their little Boat for ten Days together; and now their Dan⯑ger was leſſen'd, for here they muſt fall into the Hands of the Spaniard, who par⯑don'd them, in regard they came not to thoſe Parts of their own accord, but by the ſtreſs of Weather. Thus were theſe poor diſtreſſed Men ſaved and preſerved, when all Hope of being ſaved was taken away.

14. The Phaenix Frigot, in the time when Captain Wheſtone commanded her, and Mr. May was Maſter, being com⯑manded to carry ſome Perſons of Quality from Rye to Diep in France; the Captain and ſeveral of the Gentlemen that be⯑longed to the Frigot were aſhore; the Captain ſends the Long-boat aboard, and order'd the Frigot to weigh and come to ſail, and ſtand to and fro off in the Bay, and he would come out in his Pinnace the Gentlemen that were with him, were Sunebank Giles his Chirurgion, Mr. Good⯑win his Chaplain, Mr. Perkins his Barber and Gentleman, Mr. Richards, and ſome three more Gentlemen Reformadoes, A⯑braham Car Coxſwain, and about 12 Sea-men for his Crew that ſet out of Rye, and croſſed the Bay to meet the Frigot un⯑der [39]Sail; and when they came near, be⯑ [...]ng a good way a-head, waved to the Frigot to keep her way, and not to come [...] playſe for her, which ſhe did with a [...]reſh Top ſail Gale of Wind, till ſhe came [...]p with the Pinnace, and then the Cox⯑ [...]n would [...]-laid her aboard of the Lar⯑ [...]ord ſide; but the Captain ſuppoſing himſelf far enough a-head, commanded [...]im to ſh [...] a-head of her, and lay her [...]board of the Starboard-ſide, which he aſ⯑ſuming to do, the Ship giving a ſaw and having freſh way, the Pinnace was not paſt, but the Cotwater of the Ship cut [...]he Pinnace in the middle and run right over, that ſhe lay in a moment of time [...]n a hundred pieces, and all the Men floating for their Lives; in the interim of which time, with a Cry, they gave a [...]eap, in which leap, the Captain catcht [...]old on the Rails of the Head, Mr. Ri⯑ [...]hards's on the Captain's Heels, Mr. Giles [...]he Chirurgion on Richards's Heels, Mr. Goodwin on Giles's Heels, and ſome other Perſon on his; ſo that with that Spring [...]r Leap, no leſs than 4 or 5 providenti⯑ally catcht about one the others Heels or Middle, as Boys when playing at Truſs; [...]nd in hoiſting in the Captain they pre⯑ [...]erved 4 or 5 more with him; the Cox⯑ [...]en ſunk down and brought ſome of the [40]Tallow of the Lower part of the Ship on his Cloaths, and came up again a [...] the Stern, where he was taken up by the Seamen; ſome by Swimming others by aſſiſtance of the Oar, and pieces of the Boat, by God's bleſſing kept them from Drowning, till the Long-boat took them all up, except the Captain's Barber Mr. Perkins, whom it ſeems had ſunk, it's thought his laſt time; but Providence ſo order'd it, that the Man in the main Channel, heaving the Hand-Lead, there fell a chrockle in the dipſey-Line, and in that very interim, the Lead fell in the very place where the Barber was ſunk, and the chinckle of the Line fell about the Barbers Fingers, hitcht about his Ring, and ſo providentially faſten'd it ſelf, ſo that as the Man in the Scenes haling up his Lead, found it to come heavier than it uſed to do; admiring, at laſt up come the Barber faſten'd in the chinckle by his Ring, which the Spectators amazed at, immediately took hold of him, and pulled him into the Frigot, with his Eyes fixed, and Teeth ſet, and little appearance of Life; but by the bleſſing of God, the im⯑mediate means us'd, and care of him, he ſoon came to himſelf, and recover'd; ſo that notwithſtanding this ſhrewd diſa⯑ſter, [41]which might have proved fatal to [...]ll, or moſt of them, yet there was not one Man of them all miſcarried, but was [...]ecover'd to their Health again, as Mo⯑ [...]uments of God's Mercy. For truth of his, many of the Men are alive at this Day; the Chirurgion now living in Grays-Inn-Lane; and at the very interim [...]f time, I was then aboard the ſaid Frigot, [...]nd was not only an Eye-ſpectator, but [...]n Inſtrument to help in preſerving of [...]ome of them, and therefore may Aver [...] to be Truth.

15. About 10 Years ago, in the Iſland [...]f Barbadoes, there did arrive one Mr. John Blackleach (from New England) a [...]ery honeſt Man, who gave account, [...]at in his then Voyage, his Son being Maſter of the Veſſel, and himſelf Mer⯑ [...]hant, their Men at Sea did Mutiny, at which occaſion he and his Son were [...]rc'd to ſtand on their Guard for ſome me, caſting his care on the Lord: But [...]hilſt under this trouble, being in the [...]ong Reach, in or near the Latitude of [...]arbadoes, they all did ſee a great Ship [...]hich ſtood towards them; and while [...]ey were Looking on her, to ſee how [...]ſt ſhe came towards them (ſhe being [...]etty near) vaniſh'd away, which ſtruck [...]e Men with great Fear, and made [42]them humble themſelves to the good Old Man, and deſir'd his Prayers for them.

16. In the Month of Novemb. 1669. the Ship Proſperous of Briſtol, ſailed from thence, being bound for Galloway in Ire⯑land, but was forced into Bruts-Bay in Cornwall, where the Ship brake in pieces, ſix Perſons being Drowned, and other wonderfully caſt on Shore and bruiſed; amongſt the reſt John Denny (a Skinne [...] of Briſtol) was caſt aſhore by a Great Sea, being much Bruiſed and almoſt Dead; and was by ſome ſtrip'd Naked, and laid amongſt the other Dead Folks that were taken up, being only cover'd with ſome Straw or Rubbiſh. But by Providence, an old Man looking on the Dead People, did perceive ſome Life in the ſaid Denny, and the Lord open'd his Heart, that he ſtrip'd himſelf of his own Shirt and ſome Cloaths, and put on him, and tock him from among the Dead: Thro' his La⯑bour and Love, by God's Bleſſing, the ſaid Denny is now well, and liveth at Briſtol. This my Author had from John Denny's own Mouth.

17. In the Year 1671. I being at Be⯑ſton in New England, I oft went to ſee an Acquaintance of mine, one Abraham Darby, a ſober honeſt Man, a Maſter of [43]a Veſſel, who relates the following Sto⯑ry, which he atteſts to be Truth. That ſome few Years ago, he the ſaid Darby being Maſter of a ſmall Ketch, was [...]ound from Barbadoes to Virginia, he having an Iriſh Woman, a Servant, on Board, to be Deliver'd in Virginia, but he was a vile Perſon, and having often offended, at laſt was puniſh'd, for which [...]he ſaid they ſhould not carry her to Vir⯑ginia, tho' the Wind was very fair, and carried them in ſounding of the Capes of Virginia: That they had bent one Cable to the Anchor, thinking ſoon to got in; [...]ut ſhe ſtill ſaid they ſhould not: Then [...]he Wind ſprang up of a ſudden, in a meer fret, which for [...]'d them many Days off, and their Proviſions near ſpent (it being, if I miſtake not, in [...]) then [...]he Wind came fair again, a from Gal [...], and they before it, in hopes to gain their Paſſage; but on a ſudden there [...] a great Sea that caſ [...] the Veſſel on [...] ſhe having but little beſides. B [...] [...] [...]er) that her Goods and things [...]. But it pleaſed God they [...] he Helm a Weather, and ſhe wo [...]e, and [...]ll Hands as could in the Hold brought [...]er to rights, and the Wind continued [...]air till they came near the place that it [...]ook them ſhort before, and then took [44]them as before, that they were forc'd off again for many Days, having then but 2 or 3 pieces of Beef, and no Bread, nor (I think) a Gallon of freſh Water: But after ſome time the Wind came fair, they making Sail to get back, it being fine Weather, there came a great Sea and laid her down again, and carried her Maſt away, and a part of the Part⯑ners that hold the Maſt, that as ſhe lay on one ſide, the Sea ruſh'd into her; but the Maſter with his Bed and Rug ſtopt the force, till it pleaſed God they had ſhifted the things in the Hold and brought her to rights again, (now theſe poor Souls were left as a Wrack in the Ocean, and neither Victuals nor Drink, but ſtrong Water and Sugar, to help them) but finding a Spar or Oars, in the Hold, made ſhift to get out a ſmall Sail (I had like to have omitted, that whilſt they had any Food, they would have given this wicked Woman a part, but ſhe would not Eat any thing) then it pleaſed God to ſend a fine Gale, and they got on the Coaſt of New-England, and ſounding, found about forty Fathom Water, and very calm; then they chopt to an Anchor there, and that Night got two or three Fiſh, wherewith they Re⯑freſhed themſelves (but the Woman [45]would not Eat) but could get no more; and finding a fine Gale, weighed Anchor, and thought to have got within Cape-God, not being far off; but the Wind came freſh againſt them, and drove them off again to Sea, and then 'twas Calm; and about that time the Woman had faſted about 21 Days, and yet could Curſe and Damn, and ſay, She ſhould not go a Shoar; but that Night the Maſter and ſome others being on the Deck, ſpied a great black Thing riſe out of the Sea, to their thinking, much bigger than the Ketch, the Sea being Light all about, and the Woman in the Hold made a great Noiſe, and when ſhe had given a great Screach, or Groan, this great black Thing Vaniſh'd, the Water ſeeming like Fire all round, and made a great Sea and Noiſe: And when the Men came to themſelves, they looking for the Woman, found her Dead; but after they had flung her over⯑board, they had a brave Wind and Wea⯑ther, and got ſafe to Plimonth in New-England.

18. At New-England in the Year 1671. I ſpoke with John Grafting of Salem, and others of good Repute, who told me, not long before the ſaid Grafting ſuffer'd Ship⯑wrack amongſt the Leward Iſlands, (the Name of the Place I forget) the Ship [46]or Ketch being broken to pieces, himſelf and Mate, and one or two were caſt with the Sea aſhoar amongſt the Rocks moſt wonderfully, not knowing of each other, till by Providence they met amongſt the Rocks, it being an Iſland without Inha⯑bitants (if I miſtake not) and they brui⯑ſed; yet the Lord provided for them in a wonderful manner, and not only there, but in their getting off that place, and bringing them ſafe to their Friends and Relations in Salem in New England; where Praiſes were returned to the Lord, who wonderfully preſerves the Children of Men. I hope this ere long will be en⯑larged from the Party himſelf.

[...]9. I being well Acquainted with one Jeffery Howard a Mariner, who is a Man of good Repute, he told me as follow⯑eth; That about 12 or 14 Years ſince, he was coming through the City of Sa⯑lisbury, he was looking on the Street Ri⯑vers, and ſpies ſomething move on the Water; but looking earneſtly, ſaw it to have Liſe, ſteps in and got it out, and found it to be a Man-child, only inrapt as it came into the World from its Mo⯑ther, and it was put to Nurſe, and now is become a fine Youth.

20. At Briſtol, a place well known, not many Years ago, a Man fell into the [47]River, near about the Marſh, and not be⯑ing ſeen, was carry'd down with the Tide ſome way; and, I think, could not ſwim, but lay as Dead on the Water, driving with the Tide; but by providence, ſome being in the Meadow going to Work, or coming from the Lymekilns, being by the Water-ſide Playing with a Spaniel, ſaw ſomething floating, flung in things to make the Dog fetch it; and the Dog accordingly took hold of the Man by the Cloaths, and brought him a ſhoar; and finding ſome Symptoms of Life, took care of him; and he came to Life, and dwells in New Briſtol. This I had from the Spectators.

21. In the Year 1671, one Mr. Savage, Maſter of the Society-Ketch, bound from Briſtol to Boſton in New England, met on the Coaſt of N. E. the Ship call'd the George of Briſtol, being in diſtreſs, ſpake with them; the Ship having ſprang a Leak, their Men tired and ſpent with Pumping; the Maſter and all his Com⯑pany went on Board the Ketch with ſpeed, and ſoon after the Ship ſunk. This I had from Mr. Savage and other Paſ⯑ſengers with him, who affirm'd it to be truth,

22. Capt. John Trankmore, Comman⯑der of a Ship belonging to Apſom, near [48] Exeter; in one of his Voyages of late Years, being at Sea in a dark Night, and foul Weather, fell ſoul of another Ship unexpectedly, not then knowing what each other were, but a Sea parting them again; in the interim Cap. Trankmore's Ship, Shipt a great Sea, which waſhed the ſaid Trankmore Over-board; and ano⯑ther Sea caſt or hove him into the other Ship, which fell out to be an Engliſh-Man, bound for Plimouth: Thus in the dark, the Wind and Sea parts the ſaid Ship, without having knowledge of each other, Capt. Trankmore concluding that his own Ship was Foundred, and all his Loſt, and God had wrought a won⯑der of Mercy in his Preſervation; but ſo it fell out, that one Samuel Snytal, who was his Apprentice, had obtain'd ſuch Knowledge of the Art of Navigation, and his Maſter being gone, and as they ſup⯑pos'd Drown'd, being waſh'd Over⯑board, was neceſſitated to improve his skill, and by God's Bleſſing, he carry'd the Ship ſafe home to Apſom, where Ar⯑riving, although they had made a good Voyage, yet the ſorrow for the loſs of the Maſter, eat up all the Comforts and Smiles a Proſperous Voyage otherwiſe would have made; but ſo Providence order'd it, that about 3 or 4 Days after, [49]the other Ship Arrives ſafe in Plimouth; where the ſaid Trankmore landed, very ſorrowful and dejected, having (as he ſuppos'd) loſt his Ship (wherein he was deeply concern'd as an Adventurer him⯑ſelf) and all his Men; as he was in the Morning walking on the Hope at Pli⯑mouth very dejectedly, he providentially meets with one of his Executors, or Apſom Neighbours, who looks him in the Face with Aſtoniſhment, knowing him well, and yet believing the Report of his being Dead, or loſt, in amaze Sa⯑lutes him with theſe Expreſſions; What Capt. Trankmore? who replies, A poor Captain; having loſt my Ship richly Laden, and after a good Voyage, with all my Men, not a Soul ſaved but my ſelf, whom, by a Miracle God wrought Salvation for, (as be⯑fore Recited) giving the Gentleman, his Neighbour an account of his Providence towards him; when after a little pauſe, his Friend embraces him, and with ad⯑miring of the Providence, bids him be of good Heart, for his Ship and all his Company was well and ſafe Arriv'd at Apſom; for his Man Samuel Snytal had brought her ſafe home, and all the Sorrow and Cry there, was for the loſs of him. Which reply, made the ſaid Trankmore in as much a⯑maze on the other hand, being almoſt [50]Incredulous of Truth, till his Friend poſitively affirming it, and then conſult⯑ing his own Mercy, ſaw, and was made ſenſible, there was no Mercy too great for God to Work, and thence took heart, recovering himſelf, went home rejoicing, where he found his expectation anſwer⯑ed, and a welcome given him by all Perſons with him concern'd.

For the truth, I have heard it acknow⯑ledg'd by Capt. Trankmore's own Mouth at my Houſe in Briſtol; and farther, the ſame Snytal was my Predeceſſor's Son, and I have heard his Mother-in-law ſpeak of it to ſeve⯑ral, and hath affirm'd it to me for a Truth.

23. The Briſtol Frigot, when Capt. Fenn was Commander, being in the Straits in Chace of Capt. Popoctiene, a Spaniſh Knight of Malta, who at that time our Squadron took and brought Priſoner to the Tower; in purſuit of which Chace, the Wind began to riſe, the Capt. Com⯑mands preſently to get Top-gallant Sails abroad; and the Yards being not then Aloft, 3 Men run up preſently, where one ſtood on the top of the Shroud un⯑der the Main-top-maſt-croſs-trees, a ſe⯑cond ſtood a top of the Croſs-trees and the other ſtood by the Top-gallant-maſt on the Cape, at the Main-top-maſt-head; all expediting their Work in getting the [51]Top-gallant-ſail abroad; at which time the Wind freſhen'd, and carry'd our Main-top-maſt by the Board; in which diſaſter the Man that was lowermoſt, and leaſt in danger, fell over board and was drowned; and the other two which were in greateſt danger (one of their Names was Roger Dennis, under the De⯑nomination of a Quaker) inſtead of be-in bruis'd and their Bones broken all to pieces, which the Eye of Reaſon could not otherwiſe imagine by ſuch a fall; they both fell forward upon the Bunt of the Main courſe, and one catches hold of the Main Bunt-lines, and the other of the Leech-lines, and ſlack of a bow⯑ling, and ſo both come down to the Deck, and neither of them in the leaſt prejudic'd.

For the truth of this, my Author was then Aboard the ſaid Frigot, and was an Eye⯑witneſs of this Providence.

24. An Account of two Ships bound for New-found-Land, from ſome part in the Weſt of England, who by diſtreſs of Weather loſt Company; ſome days after, being fair weather, one of the Ships ſprang a Leak, and foundred in the Sea, where every Soul periſh'd, except one Old Man, who had laſht himſelf on the main Hatch, and committed himſelf to [52]the Mercy of the Sea and God's Provi⯑dence, where he was floating three Days and three nights; in which time, about the middle of the ſecond day, the Devil aſſuming the ſhape of a Mar-maid, ſtarts up before him, and bids him he of good heart, for, if he would but make a Contract with him, he would ingage a Deliverance for him in 24 hours; the Old Man being ſenſible it was the Devil, and doubtleſs, having been a proving of his heart to God, as the Cir⯑cumſtance of Providence he was under more immediately called for, found in himſelf a renewed ſtrength put into him, enabling him to hold up his head, and looking the Tempter in the Face; Re⯑plyes, Ah Satan, if thou canſt propheſy de⯑liverance for me; know, my God in whom I truſt, will deliver me without thy help; but however, know, I will dot comply to thy wiles, therefore avoid Satan, avoid; ſo immedi⯑ately he Vaniſh'd, and appear'd no more to him: But ſo it fell out, the other Ship being at that time in the ſame Place or Latitude, that Night the Cabbin-Boy Dreams a Dream, that ſuch a Ship there⯑abouts was Foundred, and every Soul loſt, except ſuch an Old Man, naming his Name, who was ſaved on a piece of the Ship, and floating in the Sea; which Dream, the Boy in the Morning confidently tells to [53]the Company and his Maſter; at laſt, the Boy began to ſhew more Confidence, affirming it, as if it muſt be true; inſo⯑much, he receiv'd ſome Checks from his Maſter; but however, at laſt, the Boy grew ſo reſtleſs, that he, running up from one Maſt to another, ſometimes at Fore-top-maſt-head, looking abroad, that at laſt, crying out aloud; Alow there, I ſee him, I ſee him under our Lee-bow; thus confidently affirming it, ſome of the Men ſtept up, and ſpy'd ſomething at a diſtance no begger than a Crow to ap⯑pearance, floating, and advis'd the Maſter of it, who preſently commanded the Helm to be born up, and ſtood away to it; and when they came near, found it to be the Old Man, as the the Boy ſaid; ſo they hoyſt out their Boat, and took him in, who then was ſpeechleſs, and almoſt ſpent; but by the care of the Maſter and the Chirurgion, with God's Bleſſing, recover'd, and gave a verbal ac⯑count of his Misfortune, and yet won⯑derful deliverance; together with Sa⯑tan's Temptation as before recited; which Ship, in due time, Arriv'd ſafe at her Port in New found-Land, where this Man was well Landed a ſhore.

For Confirmation, I had this, and heard it related at my Father's Houſe in Salom in [54]New-England, by Mr. John Blackledge a Merchant, who is a Perſon of a ſober life, and in Fellowſhip there, who then came from New-found-Land, and did affirm that he ſpake with the Man himſelf, whom God wrought this wonderful deliverance for, he being then at New-found-Land when the ſaid Ship Arriv'd there, and the Man went firſt aſhore.

25. Anno Chriſti. 1630. May 1. the Moſ⯑covy Merchants of London ſent a Ship call'd the Salutation of London for Greenland, which arriv'd there in ſafety June 11. following, together with two other Ships, all which were commanded by Captain Will. Goodler. The Ship wherein the Capt. was, ſtayed at Bell-ſound; This of the Salutation at the Foreland: And the Capt. meeting with ſtore of Whales, quickly made a Great Voyage, and ſo ſent for the Salutation to take in part of his Train-Oyl: By the way, as they went to him, meeting with Croſs-Winds, the Maſter ſet Eight of his Men on Shore to kill ſome Veniſon, in a place where there uſed to be good ſtore. Theſe Men ta⯑king with them a Brace of Dogs, a Snap⯑hance, two Lances, and a Tnider-Box went on Shore, and that day they laid Fourteen Good Deer on the Ground: And then, being weary, and the Night [55]coming on, they betook themſelves to Reſt, intending the next day to make an end of their Hunting, and ſo to return to their Ship: But the next day proved Foggy, and there was much Ice between the Shore and the Ship, and the Wind coming Southerly, the Ship was fain to ſtand ſo far off into the Sea to be clear of the Ice, that they loſt the ſight of her; and the Weather growing thicker and thicker, they thought fit to Hunt along the Shoar to Green-Hurbour, and there to ſtay aboard the Ship, till their own Ship ſhould come into the Port.

In this Paſſage they killed Eight Deer more, and ſo having laden their Shallop with Veniſon, they kept on their courſe to Green Harbour: But when they came thither, they found, to their great Aſto⯑niſhment, that the Ship was departed. Being thus fruſtrated of their Expection, and having but three days to the utter⯑moſt expiration of their limited time for their departure out of that Country, they thought it their beſt courſe to make all ſpeed poſſible to Bell-Sound, to their Cap⯑tain; and leſt delay ſhould prove dan⯑gerous, they lightned their Shallop by heaving their Veniſon over board into into the Sea, and ſo they haſted all they might, and that night got half-way: But [56]the dark Fog increaſing, they were forc'd to cove in a point of the Land till the next day at Noon: At which time the Weather being clearer, they haſted for⯑ward; but having no compaſs to direct their, courſe by, they wandred up and down ſo long, till the Ships were depart⯑ed. This filled them with fear and aſtoniſhment, knowing that neither Chriſtian nor Heathen had ever Inha⯑bited thoſe deſolate Climates: Yea, they had heard that the Merchants had en⯑deavour'd, with proffers of Great Re⯑wards, and of ſufficient Furniture, and Proviſion of all things neceſſary, to hire ſome to undertake to Winter in thoſe parts, but could never meet with any that would adventure their Lives in ſo hazardous an Undertaking: They had heard alſo, that the Company of Moſcovy Merchants had once procur'd the Re⯑prieve of ſome Malefactors condemn'd to Death here in England, unto whom they promiſed Pardon, together with Re⯑wards and Proviſion of Cloaths, Victuals, and all other Neceſſaries, if they would ſtay one Winter there: But when they came thither, and took a view of the deſolateneſs of the Place, they conceiv'd ſuch horror and fear in their Hearts, that they choſe rather to return for [57] England, and there to ſatisfie the Law with the loſs of their Lives, than to ſtay in ſo deſolate and darkſome a Country. They remembred alſo a more terrible Example, of Nine Good and Able Men left there formerly by the ſame Maſter that had now left them, who all Died Miſerably upon the place; and whoſe Bodies were fearfully disfigur'd by the Savage Bears, and Hungry Foxes, which are the only Inhabitants of that comfort⯑leſs Country: All which made them like amazed Men, to ſtand one looking upon another, every one foreſeeing the future Calamities, both of himſelf and of his Fellows: And that which much increas'd their horror, was, their want of all neceſſary Proviſion for the Life of Man, having neither Clothes to keep them warm, and for ſhift, nor Food to prevent the Miſeries of cruel Famine, nor a Houſe to ſhroud themſelves from the extremity of Cold.

But after a Space, knowing that Delay in Extremity is the Mother of all Dan⯑ger, they began to conceive Hope out of the Depth of Deſpair; and therefore they conſulted together of the likelieſt Courſe for their Preſervation in that Place, and reſolv'd upon the Opportu⯑nity of the next fair Weather to go to [58] Green-Harbour to kill ſome Veniſon for part of their Winter Proviſion, which accordingly they did, but found not ſo many Dear as they expected; yet the firſt Day they killed Seven, and Four Bears to Boot, which they alſo intend⯑ed to eat: The next Day they killed Six Deer more, and as they returned, they killed Six more; and then the Weather proving foul and cold, they la⯑ded their Shallop with the Deer and Bears, and finding another Shallop left there as uſually they do from Year to Year, they laded it with Greaves of Whales that had been boiled there that Year, and ſo dividing themſelves into thoſe 2 hallops, they took the firſt Op⯑portunity of returning to Bell-Sound to their Tent, where they intended to take up the reſt for the Winter.

But in their Paſſage, the Night com⯑ing on, and the Wind blowing hard, were forc'd to ſtay in the mid way at Bottel Cove for that Night: There they faſten'd their Shallops one to another, and caſting out their Anchor, they left them riding in the Cove.

But here again, for the trial of their Pa⯑tience, and to teach them to rely more upon upon God's Providence, than than upon any outward Means of their own, this miſchance [59]befel them: The Wind blowing hard into the Cove, and their Anchor coming home, their Shallop ſunk into the Sea, and ſo wet all their Proviſion, and ſome of it they found ſwimming up and down by the ſhoar: The ſight thereof, won⯑derfully troubled them, to ſee the beſt part of their Proviſion, the only hope of their Lives under God, in danger either utterly to be loſt, or to be ſpoil'd by the Sea-water, for which they had taken ſuch pains, and run ſo many adventures in the getting of it: and in this their Miſery, they ſaw but one remedy, and that was a deſperate one, viz. to turn into the high⯑wrote Sea to their Shallops to ſave the re⯑mainder of their Proviſions, now ready to be waſh'd away by the Billows: This they did, and by main force drew the Shallops to the ſhore; then they went a⯑long by the Sea-ſide to gather up ſuch of their Proviſions as were ſwimming up and down: and when the Weather prov'd fair, they went on to Bell-ſound: where being arriv'd, they took out their Provi⯑viſion, and viewed the great Tent which was built of Timber and Boards, and co⯑vered with Flemiſh Tiles: The uſe of it was for the Coopers to Work and Lodge in whilſt they made Casks for the putting up of the Train-Oyl; and they reſolved to [60]build another ſmaller Tent within that for their Habitations; and accordingly, taking down a leſſer Tent that ſtood near to it, wherein the Land-men lay whilſt they made their Oyl, they fetch'd their materials from thence, both Boards, Poſts, and Rafters, and from the Chimnies of the Furnaces, they took a thouſand Bricks; they found alſo four Hogſheads of Lime, which mingled with ſand from the ſhoar, made good Mortar; But the Weather was grown ſo extream cold, that they were fain to make 2 Fires on both ſides, to keep their Mortar from freezing; then they raiſed a Wall of one Brick thickneſs againſt the inner Planks of the ſide of the Tent, but by that time they had Wall'd 2 ſides of their Houſe, their Bricks fail'd, ſo that they were forc'd to build the other 2 ſides of Boards; which be⯑ing nail'd on both ſides the Poſts, they were hollow between, which they fill'd up with Sand, that made it ſo tite, that the leaſt breath of Air could not poſſibly annoy them. The length of this Tent was 20 foot, and the breadth 16; their Chimney was the breadth of a Deal⯑board, and 4 foot high; they Ciel'd it with Boards of 5 or 6 times double, that no Wind could poſſibly get thro': The Door they made as cloſe as they could, [61]and lin'd it with a Bed that they found there, which came over both the open⯑ing and ſhutting of it: they made no Windows, having no light but what came thro' the Chimney: then ſet they up 4 Cabins, quartering themſelves two and two in a Cabin; their Beds were the Deer-skins dry'd, which was a warm and comfortable Lodging for them in their Diſtreſs: Their next care was for Firing, and finding 7 old Shallops which were unſerviceable, they brake them up, and ſtow'd them over the beams of the great Tent to make it the warmer, and to keep the Snow from driving thro' the Tiles into the Tent: and by this time the cold increaſing, and ſcarce having any Day at all, they ſtav'd ſome emp⯑ty Cask, and brake two old Coolers (wherein they cool their Oyl) provid⯑ing whatſoever Firing they could with⯑out prejudice to the next Years Voyage: yet conſidering the ſmall quantity of Fewel, the extremity of Cold, and the long time of their aboad, they Husband⯑ed it as thriftily as poſſibly they could.

Having thus fitted every thing in the beſt manner they could, on the 12 of Sept. looking out into the Sound, they eſpy'd 2 Sea-Horſes lying a Sleep on a piece of Ice, whereupon, taking up an [62]old harping-iron, they haſten'd to them, and firſt ſlew the old one, and the the young,; and ſo bringing them aſhore, they flay'd them, roaſted, and eat them. Not long after they kill'd another; but the Nights and cold. Weather increaſing on them, and they viewing their Provi⯑ſion, found it too ſmall by half; where⯑upon they ſtinted themſelves to one rea⯑ſonable Meal a day, and agreed to faſt Wedneſdays and Fridays, excepting from the Greaves and Fritters of the Whale (which was a very loathſome Meat) of which they allow'd themſelves ſufficient for their preſent Hunger: at which Diet they continu'd for about 3 Months.

Having finiſhed whatever they could invent for their Preſervation; they found that all their Clothes and Shoes were worn, and torn; to repair which, they had this new device, of Rope-yarn they made Thread, and of Whale-bones Needles to ſow their Clothes withal: But Octob. 10. the Nights being grown very long, and the Cold ſo violent, that all the Sea was Frozen over; and they having now nothing to exerciſe their Minds upon, were troubled with a thou⯑ſand imaginations: Sometimes they be⯑wail'd their abſence from their Wives and Children, thinking what grief it would be to [63]them to hear of their miſcarriage: then they thought of their Parents, and what a cutting corroſive it would be to them to hear of their untimely Deaths, &c. And being tormented in their Minds with Fear, and Grief, and pinched in their Bodies with Hunger, and Cold, the hideous Monſter of Deſperation, preſented his uglieſt ſhape unto them: But thinking it not beſt to give way to Grief and Fear, th [...]y doubled their Prayer to Al⯑mighty God for Strength and Patience in their Miſeries, by whoſe Aſſiſtance, they ſhook off their former Thought, and chear'd up themſelves to uſe the beſt means for their preſervation.

Then for the preſervation of their Veniſon, and lengthening of their Fire⯑ing, they thought beſt to roaſt every day half a Deer, and to ſtow it in Hogſ⯑heads, which accordingly they did, leav⯑ing ſo much raw as would ſerve to roaſt every Sabbath day a quarter, &c. And when this was over, they began again to think of their enſuing Miſery, that in caſe God ſhould give them Life, yet they were to live as Baniſhed Men from all Company; and as if their Sorrows had been too little, they preſently found an increaſe of it; for their Whale-Frit⯑ters, after they had been drench'd in the [64] Sea-water, lying cloſe together, were grown mouldy, and ſpoiled: And again ſurveying their Bear and Veniſon, they found that it would not afford them five Meals a Week, whereupon they were fain to cut off one Meal more; ſo that for three Months after, four days in the Week they fed upon the unſavory moul⯑dy Whale-Fritters, and the other three they feaſted with Bear and Veniſon: But beſide the want of Meat, they now be⯑gan to want Light, ſo that all their Meals were Suppers: For, from Octob. 10, to Febr. 3. the never ſaw the Sun ſo much as peep above the Horizon: But th [...] Moon, when not obſcur'd with Clouds they always ſaw ſhining as bright as i [...] England: All which darkſome time, they could not certainly tell when it ſhould be Day, and when Night.

In the beginning of this darkneſs, they ſought ſome means to preſerve Light, and finding a piece of Sheet-Lead, and ſome Oyl in the Coopers Tent, and Rope-yarn they made a Lamp, which they kept con⯑tinually burning, which was a great com⯑fort to them in their extremity; yet their Wants and Miſeries were ſo many, and great, that ſometimes they brake forth into impatient Speeches againſt the cau⯑ſers of them, but then their Conſciences a⯑gain [65]minded them after their own Evil deſerts, and ſo they took it as a juſt Hand of God for their former wicked Lives; or that God intended to make them Exam⯑ples of his Mercy in their wonderful deli⯑verance: Humbling themſelves therefore un⯑der the mighty Hand of God, they proſtrated themſelves in Prayer two or three times a day, which courſe they conſtantly held all the time of their Miſery.

In the beginning of January, as the days began to lengthen, the cold began to ſtrengthen; which proceeded to that ex⯑tremity, that it raiſed bliſters on their Fleſh as if they had been burnt with Fire, and if at any time they touched Iron, it would ſtick to their Fingers like Bird⯑lime: If they went out of Doors to fetch in a little Water it would ſo pinch them, that they were ſore as if they had been beaten. In the beginning of Winter, with Pick-axes breaking the Ice daily, they got ſome Water on the Sea-ſhore: but after January 10. they had none but Snow-water which they melted with [...]ot Irons, which was their only Drink [...]ill May 20. following.

By the laſt of Jan. the Days were 7 or 8 Hours long, and then viewing their Victuals again, they found that it would not laſt above ſix Weeks longer, which [66]made them fear further Famine; but they had recourſe to God, who they knew, could ſupply them beyond their hopes.

Looking out on a bright day, they ſaw a great ſhe Bear with her Cub coming toward their Tent, whereupon Arming themſelves with their Lances, the went forth, and ſtaid her coming; ſhe ſoon caſt her greedy Eye upon them, and hoping to devour them, haſted towards them: But with their Lances they gave her ſuch an hearty welcome, that ſhe tumbled upon the Ground, biting the Snow for anger: The Cub ſeeing this, eſcap'd by flight: The Weather was ſo extream Cold, that they were fain pre⯑ſently to retire into the Tent, and hav⯑ing warmed themſelves, they drew in the dead Bear, wherewith they Dined merrily; and this Bear ſerv'd them 20 days: Only this miſchance they had, Eating her Liver, it made their Skins peel off; when ſhe was ſpent, they yet fear'd that their Veniſon would not hold out till the Fleet came out of England; but God ſent many Bears to their Tent, by times, at leaſt 40, whereof they kill'd 7; One of which was exceeding great, at leaſt 6 Foot High; ſo that their Food in⯑creaſing, they kept not themſelves to ſuch ſhort Commons, but oft Eat two or three [67]Meals a Day, which much increaſed their ſtrength.

By this, the chearful Days lengthen'd ſo faſt, that ſeveral ſort of Fowl reſorted thither. March 16. one of their Maſtiffs went abroad which they never ſaw after; upon the coming of the Fowls, the Foxes, which all Winter had kept their Bur⯑roughts under the Rocks, came abroad to ſeek for their livings; whereupon they ſet up Traps, which they baited with the Skins of theſe Fowls, by which means they caught at times 50 Foxes; all which they roaſted, and found to be good Meat: Then taking the Bear-skins, laying the Fleſhy ſide upwards, and making Springs of Whale-bone, the caught about ſixty Fowls as big as Pigeons.

May 1. The Weather began to be pret⯑ty warm, ſo that they went daily abroad to ſeek for Proviſion: but nothing they could find for many Days, till at length they met with abundance of Willocks Eggs; of which the carried home thirty, intending the next day to fetch a 1000 more, but the Day proved ſo Cold that they could not ſtir out of their Tent. The ſame Day there came two Ships of Hull into the Sound, who knowing that ſome Men had been leſt there the Year before, being very deſirous to know whe⯑ther [68]they were Deat or Alive, the Maſter Mann'd forth a Shallop to go as near the ſhore as they could, and ſo over the Ice to the Tent: When theſe Men came near the Tent, they haled them with the uſual word of the Sea, crying Hey: to which one of them in the Tent anſwered again Hoe; which ſudden anſwer almoſt amaz'd them all: but perceiving them to be the very Men left there, with joyful Hearts they embrac'd one another, and ſo com⯑ing into the Tent, they ſhew'd the Hul [...] Men the Courteſie of the Houſe, giving them ſome Veniſon that was Roaſted 4 Months before, and a cup of cold Water, which for novelty ſake they kindly ac⯑cepted of them.

After a little Diſcourſe, theſe 8 Men reſolved to leave their Tent, and to go with them to their Ship, where they were welcom'd after the heartieſt and kindeſt Engliſh manner: and ſo they ſtaid with them till the London Fleet came, which was three days after: At which time they went aboard the Admiral, in which Capt [...] Will. Goodler was, who made them very welcome, and gave order that they ſhould have any thing that was in the Ship that might do them good: he gave them Ap⯑parel alſo, to the value of 20 Pounds. So that after 14 days refreſhment, they grew [69]all perfectly well: But when ſome of them went to their own Maſter that had left them there, he fell foul upon them, calling them Run-aways, with other harſh terms, far enough from the Civility of an honeſt Man. Thus they continu'd in the Fleet until Aug. 20. at which time, with joyful Hearts, they ſet Sail through the foaming Ocean; and though ſometimes croſſed with contrary Winds, yet at laſt they came ſafely to an Anchor in the Ri⯑ver Thames; and the Muſcovy Merchants dealt very well by them.

The Names of theſe Men, were Will. Fakely Gunner: Edw. Pelham Gunners-Mate, that wrote this Story. Joh. Wiſe, and Rob. Goodfellow, Seamen: Tho. Ayers, Whale-cutter: Hen. Bet, Cooper: John Dawns, and Rich. Kellet, Landmen.

Greenland, is a Country that lies very far North-ward in 77 Degrees, and 40 Mi⯑nutes, it's wonderful Mountainous, which Mountains are all the Year long cover'd with Ice and Snow. The Plains in part are bare in Summer: But there grows neither Tree nor Herb in it, except Scur⯑vey-graſs and Sorrel: The Sea is as barren as the Land, affording no Fiſh but Whales, Sea-horſes, Seals, and ſome few ſmall Fiſhes

26. In June 1668. the Peach-tree of Lon⯑don, a ſmall Veſſel of the Burthen of about [70]60 Tons, Edw. Dixon Maſter, came into the Downs, bound for Guinny, intending there to take in Negroes, and to tranſport them to the Barbadoes, and from thence to come for London, where John Watts, the Son of John Watts of Eltham in the County of Kent Chirurgeon, Shipt him⯑ſelf with the conſent of Rich. Watts pub⯑lick Notary of D [...]al; little dreading that his Nephew, being then not above 18 Years old, ſhould meet with ſuch a cala⯑mitous Accident. The Ship had not been long in the Downs, but a fair Gale pre⯑ſenting, they ſuddenly hoiſted Sail, God's Providence ſeeming to fill their Sails with Proſperous Succeſs; the 'firſt place they touch'd at, was the Gold Coaſt, where they ſtaid not long, but Sail'd to old Calabar, in the Bith of Guinny. They enter'd a Ri⯑ver, call'd the Croſs River into Pirats Iſland. After they had taken in their Negroes, and ready to Sail, their Anchor being a Peek, the Maſter calls up the Boatſwain and 3 Men more, whereof the Relater was one, and commands them to look out the Cop⯑per Bars that were left, and carry them on Shore to try if they could ſell them: the Boatſwain, with his ſmall Company, de⯑ſired that they might have Arms with them, not believing the report of ſome that inform'd them they were a harmleſs [71]and innocent People: They took with them three Muskets and a Piſtol, and ſo Row'd towards the Shore; but not far from it, unhappily our Match fell into the Water, and the Ship being fall'n down from that narrow part of the River, near⯑er the Sea, quite out of ſight, we were conſulting what ſhould be ſafeſt for us to do: we were not willing to precipitate our own Ruin, and were alſo aſham'd to re⯑turn to our Ship before we had diſpatch'd what we were commanded to: at length the Boatſwain commanded the Relater, John Watts on ſhore, to the firſt Houſe to light our Match, which we recover'd out of the Water, after it was extinct, which he readily obey'd: But before he was 20 Rods from the Water-ſide, he was ſeiz'd on by 2 Black (or rather Tawny-moors) and by them haled above half a Mile up into the Country, and thrown with great violence upon his Belly, and ſo compell'd to lie till they ſtript him; and more Company coming to them, they were ſo eager for his poor Canvas Apparel, that ſome they tore off, others they cut off, and with that ſeveral pieces of his Fleſh, to this intolerable pain: with theſe Rags, they made little Childrens Aprons to co⯑ver their Privities; Linnen and Woollen being ſcarce there. The Boatſwain ſee⯑ing [72]this Joh. Watts was thus carried away, was reſolv'd with his other two Compa⯑nions to have him again, or elſe to ven⯑ture all their Lives for him: They Arm themſelves; but whilſt they were con⯑ſulting what to do, whether to venture on ſhore, or not, of a ſudden they were beſet with about 12 Men in ſeveral Ca⯑noes, but they valianly maintain'd their Boat about the ſpace of 3 Hours, for af⯑ter 2 of their 3 Muskets were diſcharg'd, they defended themſelves with their Oars, and Boat-hooks. The Boatſwain re⯑ceiv'd a mortal Wound in his Groin, and fell down in the Boat; the other two ad⯑ventur'd in the River, endeavouring by Swimming to eſcape the mercileſs Hands of cruel Infidels; but the Negroes with their ſwift Canoes ſoon over-took them, and brought them on ſhore to the place where the Relater was. The Negroes took the Boatſwain out of the Ships Boat; and inſtead of endeavouring at all to pre⯑ſerve the Life which remain'd in him, immediately they rob'd him of it; one of them with a keen weapon cutting off his Head before his Companions Faces; and then they prepare for their rare Ban⯑quet, while he was yet reeking in his Blood; they in a barbarous manner cut⯑ting off pieces of Fleſh from off his But⯑tocks, [73]and his Thighs and his Arms, and Shoulders, and broil'd them on the Coals, and with a great deal of impatience, ea⯑gerly eat it before our Faces, to our great aſtoniſhment. About 14 days after, one of the Company fell Sick, and inſtead of being Phyſicians to cure him, they were his Butchers to Murder him. They ſerved him as they did the Boatſwain, cut off his Head, and broil'd and eat up his Fleſh, and rejoic'd exceedingly at this rich Banquet. About 10 days after, the third fell Sick, whom they ſerved in the ſame manner.

This was no ſmall cauſe of Sorrow to the Relater; the thoughts of their Inhu⯑man and Barbarous actions, ſometimes ſurrounded him with Fears and Sorrows, hourly expecting to taſte of the ſaid Cru⯑elty. Death did not ſeem ſo terrible to him, as the violent manner of it; being left now alone in a ſtrange Country, de⯑ſtitute of Friends or Acquaintance, or any thing that might keep up his Spirits: Die he would fain, but not by the Hands of Infidels and barbarous Monſters. But the great God, that is moſt compaſſionate in the greateſt extremities, had pity on him, and notwithaſtnding the alteration of the Climate, and the want of Clothes, and the ſtrangeneſs of his Food, which [74]was only Herbs, he continu'd in good Health, and had time enough to lament their direful Providence. The Natives who were daily expecting another Ban⯑quet, met with a diſappointment: either their Cuoſtms, or the over-ruling Power of God, would not ſuffer them to deſtroy him, he continuing ſtill in Health. There⯑fore they reſolve to ſell him: his Arannia, or Maſter, was pretty free to Diſcourſe him, which the Relator was capable of, being about 3 Years before in the Weſt-Indies, where he had learn'd the Tata Lan⯑guage, which is eaſily attain'd, being com⯑prehended in a very few words, and all the Negroes ſpeak it. He began to Diſ⯑courſe his Maſter, to know the reaſon of their Cruelty, who told him, that he ſhould reſt himſelf contented, who if he were not Sick, ſhould not have his Head cut off. In the Boat, which in the beginning they took with them, was a Musket ſav'd of the 3 which was not diſcharg'd; which his Ma⯑ſter, ſome time after he had been with him, brought to him to know the uſe of it: he endeavour'd as much as he could to make him apprehend the uſe of it, but ſtill they profeſt their ignorance: but they commanded and threaten'd him to ſhew the uſe of it. The fear of his Ma⯑ſter's Diſpleaſure and their Inhumanity, [75]cauſed him to ſhoot it off; but the Negroes, which expected ſome delightful thing, were fruſtrated, and at the ſudden noiſe and flaſh of Fire (which they very much dread) ran from him, and were greatly affrighted; but quickly after, hearing no more of that noiſe, they came up to him again, and commanded him to do the like: He told them he had not Powder, which was the cauſe of the noiſe; but this would not ſatisfie theſe Barbarians. He not being able to anſwer their expectati⯑on, they concluded he was not willing, they proceed to threaten him, and were about to Murder him, had not his Maſter reſcu'd him. Upon Diſcourſe after with this Arannia, or Maſter, he began to under⯑ſtand the reaſon of their barbarous deal⯑ing with him and his Friends, he telling him that naturally the People were Civil and ſimply Honeſt, but if provoked, full of Revenge; and that this Cruelty was occaſion'd by ſome unhandſome action of carrying a Native away without their leave, about a Year before; they reſolving if any came aſhore, they ſhould never go off alive. He had not been above 7 Weeks in the Country, but his Maſter preſented him to his King, whoſe Name was E fn-me, King of the Blackamoors, who immediately gave him to his Daugh⯑ter, whoſe Name was Oni-jah, and when [76]the King went abroad, he attended him alſo as his Page, throughout the whole Circuit of his Dominions, which was not above 12 Miles, yet boaſting extreamly of his Power and Strength, but glorying exceedingly that he had a White to attend him, whom he employ'd to carry his Bow and Arrows; at ſeveral places remote from the Sea-ſide, the People would run away from him for fear, others would fall down and ſeem to Worſhip him, and and uſe thoſe actions as they do to their Gods. Their Pregreſs was never ſo long, but they could return home at Night, but never without a handſome load of a Cup of the Creature. During all the time of the Relater's ſervitude there, he never knew him go abroad and come home Sober. They drink of the beſt Palm-Wine, and another ſort of ſtrong Liquor, call'd Penrore. The Relater quickly knew how to humour this profound Prince, and if any of the Natives abus'd him, upon his complaint, he had redreſs, as once by ſtriving with a Negroe, his Arm was broke, which by Providence more than Skill, was ſet again. After ſome Months, the King of Ca-al nanch, whoſe name was E-fn mancha, hearing of this beautiful White, courted his Neighbour Prince, that he would ſell him to him; at length they [77]ſtruck a bargain, and the Relator was ſold for a Cow and a Goat; this King was a very ſober and moderate Perſon, free from Treacheries and Miſchiefs, that the other was ſubject unto; and he would of⯑ten Diſcourſe the Relater, and ask him of his King and Country, and if his Kingdoms and Dominions were as big as his, which were not above 25 Miles in length, and and 15 in breadth. He told him as much as his Underſtanding and Years made him capable of, keeping ſtill in the bounds of Modeſty, and yet relating as much as poſ⯑ſible to the Honour and Dignity of his Sove⯑raign; firſt informing him of the greatneſs of one of his Kingdoms, the ſeveral Shires and Coun⯑ties it contained, with the number of its Cities, Towns and Caſtles, and the ſtrength of each, the infinite number of Inhabitants, and valour of his Subjects. One of theſe Kingdoms was enough to amaze ſufficiently this petty Governour, that he need not to mention any more of his Majeſties Glory and Dig⯑nity. It put him in to ſuch a profound conſternation, that he reſolved to find out ſome way to tender his Reſpects to this mighty Prince, and no way could he find ſo convenient, as to tell the Relater, that if he could find but a paſſage, he would let him go to England, to tell his Majeſty of the great Favour and Reſpect he had for him. [78]This did not a little rejoice our Engliſh-man. Withal the King told him, that he would ſend him a Preſent, which ſhould be two Cabareets or Goats, which they do va⯑lue at a very high rate; the King having not above 16 or 18. He tells the King, that the K. of England had many thouſands of his Subjects that were under the Degree of Genlemen, which had a thouſand of Sheep a⯑piece; the Fleſh of which, they valu'd at a very much higher rate than Goats. Tho' our Engliſh man liv'd very handſomely with this E-fn man-cha, King of the Ca-la-nanch, yet his deſires and his hopes were ſtill for his Native Country: At length he ob⯑tain'd a Promiſe from his King, that the firſt Engliſh Ship that came into that Road, ſhould have liberty to Releaſe or Purchaſe him; this very much rejoic'd his Heart: Now he thought ev'ry day a year, till he could hear of, or ſee ſome Engliſh Ship arriv'd. Many times when he was alone, his Heart would be oppreſs'd with Sighs and Sob⯑bings, when he thought of his Relations, and the comfortable Society that they had together; that it ſhould be his ſad Lot to be Captivated amongſt barbarous Infidels. Oftentimes did he walk down to the Sea-ſide, ſometimes with Hopes, ſometimes with Fear, earneſtly expecting the Wind of God's Providence to blow in [79]ſome Engliſh Ship thither: His often re⯑courſe to the Sea-ſide was diſcern'd by one Ja-ga, a Wizard, and the chiefeſt in 3 or 4 Kingdoms there-abouts; they are Perſons that the Natives give very much credit to, and on any difficult Occaſion, run to them for ſatisfaction. The famous Delphiān Oracle was never had in greater Adoration, than the Prophetical Speeches of theſe Mooriſh Wizards. Tho' they have infinite numbers of them in every place, yet this Ja-ga had the moſt renown a⯑mongſt them; and one day he comes to him, and very kindly ask'd him, Why he ſo very often frequented that place? He told him, To ſee if he could diſcover any Engliſh Veſſel to come in there: But he being not acquainted with his great Fame, askt him, When he did belive there would one come in? Not that he was willing to give credit to any of their Divinations, but ſuppoſing that he thereby ſhould pleaſe him, and anſwer his expectation. Ja ga immedi⯑ately told him, That the 15 day after an Engliſh Ship ſhould come into the Road. Then he askt him, Whether that Ship ſhould carry him away. To which he anſwer'd doubt⯑fully, but told him, That he ſhould be offer'd to the Maſter of the Ship, that they would not agree that he ſhould come to Shore again, and he ſhould not be Sold, but in a very [80]ſhort time after, he ſhould die for Grief. Theſe 15 Days ſeem'd very long and tedious; many a look did he caſt on the Sea with an aking Heart: The 14 Day he went to the higheſt Hill thereabout, but to no purpoſe, for he could diſcover no Ship: the next Morning he went again 2 or 3 times but ſaw none: about 2 or 3 Hours after came running into Efn-mancha, ſome of the Moors, and told him there was a Canoe coming, ſo they call'd our Ships; at which our Engliſh-man heartily rejoic'd, hoping then to be Releas'd forth⯑with, yet durſt not ſhew his joy for fear of Puniſhment, or of Death; for tho' he liv'd better now than with his firſt Ma⯑ſter, yet his Service was far worſe than the Slaves in Turkey, and their Diet worſe than Dogs-Meat; therefore had he cauſe enough of inward Joy; the Ship came immediately in, and he highs away pre⯑ſently to Ja-ga, to know if it were an Engliſh Ship, who reſolv'd him that it was; it happen'd to be the St. Maloes Merchant, Capt. Royden Commander, who haſten'd to diſpatch his Buſineſs, took in his Negroes, and was ready to Sail, and our Engliſh man heard never a word what ſhould become of him, the King never offering to ſell him; this put him on a reſolution to en⯑deavour to make an eſcape, and to that [81]end had prepar'd a piece of Timber which he had drawn near the Water-ſide, on which he intended to paddle to the Ship which then lay about a League from the ſhore. Juſt by the Sea-ſide; as he was a⯑bout to Launch his little floating Stick, he eſpy'd a great Aligator, which will de⯑vour a Man at a Mouthful; this made him alter his Reſolution, and reſolve ra⯑ther to live with Inhuman Infidels, than to throw himſelf into ſo imminent a dan⯑ger, which would have been little leſs than Self-murder. But the next day, which I may call a day of Jubilee, Al⯑mighty God open'd the Heart of the King to let the poor Engliſh man go: He ſent him in a Canoe, plac'd between a Negroe's Legs, with ſome others to guide this ſmall Veſſel, for fear he ſhould leap over-board and Swim to the Ship. At a diſtance from the Ship he Hal'd her in the Engliſh Tongue, which was no ſmall cauſe of ad⯑miration to thoſe on Board to hear an Engliſh Tongue out of their Canoes: The Negroes gave him leave to ſtand up and ſhew himſelf to the Captain, to whom he gave an Account how four were left there, and only he preſerv'd. It was a pretty while before they could ſtrike a Bargain, tho' the Captain was reſolv'd not to leave him behind. Several times the Negroes [82]padled away with their Canoe, reſolving not to part with him; but what with his entreaties and promiſes, he perſuaded them to the Ship again, and they deli⯑ver'd him on Board for 45 Copper Bars and Iron Bars; each Copper Bar being a⯑bout the bigneſs of a Youth's little Fin⯑ger, the Iron Bars a little bigger. Now were his Joys compleated, he thought himſelf, as it were, caught up into the third Heavens; he could hardly perſwade him⯑ſelf but it was a Dream or Viſion, and that he did not really ſee Engliſh Faces, or embrace Engliſh Bodies. It was ſome time before he could throw himſelf at the Captains Feet, and acknowledge his in⯑finite cauſe of Joy in himſelf, and thank⯑fulneſs to him for his Deliverance from ſuch a ſevere Captivity; that he that lately was a Slave to Infidels, that worſhip they know not what, ſhould now ſee the Faces of Chriſtians, and join with them in Worſhipping the true God; and to him firſt he offer'd up the Sacrifice of hearty Thankſgiving, that had ſent his Angel to redeem him from ſo cruel a Bondage. When he came on Board, his Hair was very Long, and his Skin Tawny (Malatto-like) having gone Naked all the time he was there, and fre⯑quently anointing himſelf with Palm Oyl he look'd like a Tawny-Moor; but immedi⯑ately [83]the Seamen aboard, with Chriſtian-like Hearts, Apparell'd him. The Maſter commanded to hoiſt Sail, and having a fair Wind, they Sail'd to Barbadoes, where Capt. Royden was to tarry ſome time; but the Relator earneſtly deſiring to go to his Native Country, and his Ralations, got paſſage to the Downs, in the Katherine of London, Capt. South Commander, which through God's Goodneſs, in a few Weeks arriv'd in the Downs, where the Relater was put on ſhore to his Uncle, Mr. Rich. Watts of Deal, to his great Joy and Satis⯑faction, who took this Relation from his own Mouth.

The Relation of Dr. William Johnſon, con⯑cerning a moſt Remarkable Sea-Deliver⯑ance; in his own words.

27. We went aboard from Harwich, on Michaelmas-day; Sept. 29. 1648▪ in the William and John of Ipſwich, Daniel Morgan Maſter, and having a fair Wind, we ſet Sail; I being Sea-ſick, went to Bed, but about 4 a Clock in the Afternoon, the Maſter of the Ship came into our Cabin with more haſte than he was wont, which made me ask him whether all was well? Who like a tender-hearted Man, who is loath to tell his Dying Friend, that he is ſo nigh his end, reply'd all is well; yet [84]when I ſaw him ſhift himſelf with ſuch haſte, I roſe from my Bed, and crawl'd upon the Deck, where I ſaw a ſad ſpecta⯑cle, the Ship having ſprang a Leak, or rather a Plank, was ready to ſink, upon which, every Man was affrighted, one was at his Prayer, another wringing his Hands, a third, his Eyes ſhedding of Tears, when he had no need of more Salt-water; but af⯑ter this, they fell to Work, but were bu⯑ſie in doing nothing: The Maſter's Mate, who went to ſearch the Leak, told us with a ſad Countenance, trembling Hands, gnaſhing of Teeth, a quivering Tongue, and words half ſpoken. That the Leak could not be ſtopt, and the Water came in ſo faſt upon us, that we muſt periſh in this noment. Upon which we preſently caſt out our Long-boat, and ſhot off 8 or 9 Guns to another Ship, who came out with us, to come to our Relief, then with ſome dif⯑ficulty we all got into the Boat, and God be thanked, came clear of the Ship, whoſe Sails now lay flat upon the Water, and now we were rowing we know not whi⯑ther, for the other Ship came not to our Relief, which made us have hard thoughts of them without cauſe, for we underſtood that both the Ship and all the Men pe⯑riſhed in the ſame hour. Now were we without all hope, for it blew half a Storm, [85]and we were in a ſmall Veſſel, many Leagues from the ſhore, without Com⯑paſs, or Proviſion to ſuſtain us, being ſtarv'd likewiſe with Cold as well as for want of Victuals, having nothing in our Boat, but a ſmall Kettle, which ſerv'd to caſt out the water, and 3 Bags of Pieces of Eight, of 300 Pound Serling, which would neither feed us, nor keep us warm; in this diſtreſs we went to Prayers, and it pleaſed God to hear us, and ſend a Ship to us, even in the moment of Death, which we endeavour'd to come to, and he likewiſe to us, but the Storm was ſo great, we could not reach one another, tho' when it was dark, he hung out a Light, and we to let him know we were alive, order'd, that when a wave took us up, we ſhould give a great ſhout, which we did ſo loud, that I helieve our Cry was heard to Heaven, for by God's miraculous Aſſiſtance, we got near the Ship, and ſoon after, all ſafe into it; the next day it blew fair for Norway, whither we were bound, and about 12 at Noon we ſaw the Coaſt, which being ragged, and full of Rocks, we reſolv'd to ſtay till next Morn⯑ing before we went in, and then ſat down to Meat, and Eat very heartily being kindly entertain'd by the honeſt Norwe⯑gian; about ten a Clock at Night, we laid [86]us down to reſt, after having pray'd, and ſet our Watch, but immediately this our ſecond Ship ran with full Sails upon a Rock, and gave ſo great a Crack as was able to awake the moſt dead aſleep a⯑mong us, and the Mariners cry'd out, Mercy, Mercy, it pleaſed God, that the Ship ſtruck it ſelf ſo faſt in the clift of the Rock, that the former part of her ſtood firm, but breaking in the Storm, one of the Seamen leaped from the Bow of the Ship upon the Rock, with a Rope in his Hand, which was faſten'd to one of our Maſts, and held it with ſo ſtiff a Hand, that another ſlipt down by it, and ſo all our Company that eſcaped, being 28 in Number, came ſafe to the Rock; I was the laſt that came down the Ship that way, for in that very moment ſhe gave way, which the Maſter perceiving, who was ſtill aboard, made lamentable moan to us to help him, which we en⯑deavour'd to the utmoſt, but the Ship broke, and ſunk immediately; there was this good Man, and four of the Mariners drowned; I ſaw the Maſter, with a Light⯑in his Hand, fall into the Sea, the ſad⯑deſt ſight that I ever yet beheld in this World, and that which pierced my Soul, to ſee him that ſaved our Lives, loſe his own: Now were we in the Dark upon [87]the Rock, but knew not where, our Feet being cut upon the ſharp Stones. At length, we happen'd of a hole in the Rock, which which was a warm ſhelter againſt the Wind; and when Morning came, where we could ſee no Land, only had a glimps of the Coaſt of Norway, at a great di⯑ſtance: We grew Hungry, but had no⯑thing to Fiſh with, but our Arms, with which we drew up ſome ſmall Muſcles, and they we eat heartily, but we burnt with thirſt, and I would have given all I had for a Draught of freſh Water, which would have been more welcome than the Gold of Ophir, tho' nothing is ſo mean in our eſteem; but we were forc'd to drink Salt-water, which increaſed our Thirſt; we now ſaw a Ship coming towards us with full Sails, and we wav'd our Hats at them, but they went off, and never came near us; we betook our ſelves to our old Remedy, Prayers; the Danes firſt ſinging one of Luther's Pſalms, fell to their Prayers, and I Pray'd as long as I was able to ſpeak, and then laid my ſelf down on the Rock, thinking I ſhould riſe no more in this World: But I overheard one of the Sea-men, ſay, Let us make a Raft, and venture to Sea, I had rather be Drown'd than lie here to be Starv'd; They all concluded of it, tho' dangerous, and the Sea having fal⯑len [88]from the Rock, had left our Sails, Maſts, and Anchors, with part of the Ship thereon, wherewith they ſoon made a ſlight Boat, and it being a great calm, the reſt paſt through the Beaches with 4 Men in it, and had it touch'd only on them, they would have rent it in pieces, however through God's Goodneſs, they arrived ſafe in Norway, and return'd with ſeveral Boats, ſo that we came all of us once more to Land, and were entertain'd at an honeſt Lutheran Parſon's Houſe, where after we had continu'd for ſome Days with little Money and much Thanks we parted, and came to Frederick Stadt, where the People ran after us in the Streets, and with compaſſionate Eyes gave us what we wanted, without asking; from whence we went to Ofterſondt, and there went aboard an Engliſh Ship, we had not been above 2 or 3 hours at Sea, but there was a ſad diſtraction, the Mariners again crying for Mercy, Mercy, for we had al⯑moſt fallen ſoul on a Rock under Water, which we did not ſpie till we were upon it, but by the Mercy of God, we Sail'd cloſe by it, and yet eſcaped it, the leaſt touch of it had been our ruine; about noon we came clear of all the Rocks on the Coaſt of Norway, and were Sailing for England, with a fair Gale of Wind. But [89]in this proſperity, another ſad ancident befel us, this third Ship ſprang a leak and began to ſwim within as well as with⯑out, and we had no way to relieve our ſelves, but pumping (for the Leak could not be found) which we did day and night, for four or five days together, when it pleaſed God, we came ſafe, though in a great deal of danger, becauſe of our rotten Ship, into Yarmouth Road; for the wind being very high, had like to have driven us upon a Scotch Veſſel, who cry⯑ed out as well as we, but we happily miſt him, and ſo ſafely arrived in Yarmouth Town, through the wonderful mercy of God. Deus Nobiſcum.

The great Dangers, and Merciful Deliver⯑ances of William Okely and his Company from Slavery in a Canvas Boat, &c.

In the Year 1639. We took Ship at Graveſend, in the Mary of London, Mr. Boarder Maſter, bound for the Iſle of Pro⯑vidence in the Weſt-Indies, five weeks we [...]ay in the Downs, waiting for a wind, and then we ſet Sail, and came to an Anchor near the Iſle of Wight, but by this time all the Beer in our Ship ſtunk, and we were forc'd to throw it overboard, and ſo take in Vinegar to mix with Water for our Voyage; the next Lords day we ſet Sail [90]again, and coming between the Iſland and the main Land, we ſtuck faſt in th [...] Sands, but the Tide coming in, heave [...] us off: the ſixth day after our ſetting Sa [...] from the Iſle of Wight, we diſcovered thre [...] Turks men of War, who chaſed us, and a [...] break of day boarded and took us; hav⯑ing kept us cloſe Priſoners at Sea, at th [...] end of five or ſix Weeks, they brough [...] us to Algiers, where I was ſold for a ſlay the firſt Market day to a Patron, wh [...] told me, ‘I muſt allow him two Dollars Month, and live aſhore where I would, an [...] get it where I could,’ though I knew no [...] where to levy the leaſt Mite of it: Wa [...] dring up and down I met with an En⯑gliſh-man in his little Shop, who Trade with Tobacco, and a few other things; I be⯑came his Partner with a little Money had reſerved, and a ſmall modicum m [...] Patron had allowed me for my ſtock Here I got money and hired a Cella [...] where I laid up ſome other of my Good when weary of my ſlavery, I formed deſign for my Liberty, and communi⯑cated it to John Anthony Carpenter, Wi [...] Adams Brick-layer, John Jephs Seaman John a Carpenter, and two others, me [...] of able Bodies, and uſeful in the intende [...] project, which was to contrive the Mo [...]del of a Boat, which being formed i [...] [91]parcels, and afterwards put together, might be the means of our eſcape: They approved the Propoſal, and in my Cel⯑lar we began to work, we provided firſt a piece of Timber of twelve foot long to make the Keel, but becauſe it was impoſſible to convey it of that length out of the City, but it muſt be ſeen and ſuſpected; we therefore cut it in two pieces, and fitted it for jointing juſt at the middle, and then we provided Ribs, af⯑ter which we made the Boat Water-tight, and becauſe Boards would require much hammering, and that noiſe was like to betray us, we bought as much ſtrong Canvas as would cover our Boat twice over upon the Convex of the Carine; we provided alſo as much Pitch, Tar, and Tallow, as would ſerve to make it a kind of Tarpawling Cerecloth to ſwaddle the Naked Body of our Infant Boat; of two Pipe ſtaves ſawed at the Corners, we made two things to ſerve for Oars, and for our Proviſion, we had a little Bread, and two Leather Bottles full of freſh Water, we alſo remembred to buy as much Canvas as would ſerve for a Sail, we carried out theſe in parts, and parcels, fitted them together in the Valley about half a mile from the Sea, whither Four of our Company carried the Boat on [92]their Shoulders, and the reſt followed them. At the Sea-ſide we ſtript, put our Clothes into the Boat, and carried it and them as far into the Sea as we could wade, and then all ſeven got into the Boat, but finding ſhe was over laden, two of the Seamen were content to ſtay on ſhore; having bid them farewel, we lanched out, June 30. 1644. The Bill of Lading was John Anthony, Will. Adams, John Jephs, John the Carpenter and Will. Okely; Four of us wrought continually at the Oar, the Fiſth was to free the Boat of that Water, which by degrees leaked through our Canvas, our Bread was ſoon ſpoiled with the ſoaking in the Salt-wa⯑ter, our Freſh-water ſtunk of the Tan⯑ned Skin, and Owze, yet we complained not; three days with good Husbandry our Bread laſted us, but then Pale Famine ſtar'd us in the Face; Water indeed we might have, but it muſt be Salt, out of the Sea, or that which had been ſtrain'd through our own Bodies, and that we choſe of the two; but we muſt not have that after a while, unleſs we would accept of the other firſt; and the miſery was, that did not aſſwage our Thirſt, but inereaſe it; the Wind too, for ſome time was full againſt us, but God rebuked it, and made it our Friend; a ſecond inconvenience was, that our [93]Labour was without intermiſſion; and a third, the extremity of the Heat by day, the ſeaſon raging hot, the begin⯑ning of July, and we wanted freſh-water to cool the Heat, our Labour made it inſup⯑portable to our Bodies, and our little hope made it as grievous to our Souls; one help we had, a poor one, he that emptied the Boat, threw the Water on the Bodies of the other to cool them; but our Bodies thus ſcorched and cooled roſe up in Bli⯑ſters all over; great pain we felt, great dan⯑gers we were in, great Miſeries we indur'd, great wants we were under, and had nothing but a little Hope, Food and Strength: If any Ask by what Directions we ſteered our courſe to Mayorck, whither we deſign'd to go? For the day a Pocket Dial did ſupply the place of a Compaſs, by Night the Stars when they appear'd, and when not, we gueſ⯑ſed our way by the the motion of the Clouds: Four Days and Nights were we in this woful plight; on the fifth, all hope that we ſhould be ſav'd was periſh'd, ſo that we left off our Labour, becauſe we had no ſtrength left, only emptied the Boat of Water; but then God ſent us ſome Relief, for as we lay hulling up and down, we diſcover'd Tortoiſe, not far from us aſleep in the Sea; had Drake diſcover'd the Spaniſh Fleet, he could not have more [94]Rejoyc'd; we took up our Oars, ſilently rowed to our Prey, took it into the Boat with Great Triumph; we cut off her Head, and let her Bleed into a Pot, we drank the Blood, eat the Liver, and ſucked the Fleſh: it wonderfully refreſhed our Spi⯑rits, and we picked up ſome crumbs of Hope: about Noon we thought we diſ⯑cover'd Land; it's impoſſible to expreſs the joy of our raiſed Souls at this appre⯑henſion, we Wrought hard, and after further Labour were fully ſatisfy'd that it was Land, and proved to be Mayork, which we kept within ſight of all day. July the 6th. about Ten at Night we came under the Iſland, and crept as near the Shore as we could or durſt, till we found a convenient place, where we might thruſt in our Weather-beaten Boat; when we were come to Land we were not in⯑ſenſible of our deliverance; but though we had eſcap'd the Sea, we might die at Land; We had no Food ſince we eat the Liver, and drank the Blood of the Tor⯑toiſe; therefore John Anthony and my ſelf were ſent out to Scout abroad for Freſh-Water, becauſe we ſpake ſome Spaniſh; We came to a Watch-Tower of the Spa⯑niards, ſpake to him on the Watch, told him our Condition, earneſtly begged ſome Freſh-Water, and ſome Bread; he [95]threw us down and old mouldy Cake, but ſo long as it was a Cake, Hunger did not conſider its Mouldineſs; then he direct⯑ed us to Freſh-Water which was hard by; We ſtood not telling of Stories, we re⯑membred our Brethren left with our Boat, and obſerving the Centinel's Directions, came to a Well, where there was a Pot with ſtrings to draw with; we drank a little Water, and eat a bit of our Cake, but the paſſage was ſo diſuſed, that we had much ado to force our Throats to re⯑lieve our clamorous Stomachs; we re⯑turn to our Boat, and acquaint them with the Good Succeſſes of our Embaſſy, and all prepare to make to the Well, ſo tying our Boat as faſt as we could to the ſhore we left her to Mercy: N [...]w w [...] are at the Well which hath Water therein, and we have ſomething to draw with, but God muſt give us a Throat to ſwallow; for Will. Adams attempting to drink, after many Eſſays, was not able to ſwallow it, but ſtill the Water return'd, ſo that he ſunk down to the ground, Fainting, ſaying, I am a Dead Man: But after much ſtri⯑ving he took a little; ſo refreſhed with our Cake and Water, we lay by the Well ſide till the Morning; when it was clear day, we again went to the Watch⯑man, intreating him to direct us the ready [96]way to the next Houſe or Town, wher [...] we might find Relief; he civilly pointed to us to one about Two Mile off, and long it was ere our Bliſtering Feet could overcome the tediouſneſs o [...] that little way: When we came thither the honeſt Farmer, moved with our Rela⯑tion, ſent us Bread and Water, and Olives and ſeeing us Thankful Beggars, inlarge [...] his Civility to us, called us into his Houſe and gave good warm Bean Pottage, which ſeem'd to me the moſt pleaſant Food that ever I eat in my Life, then we ad⯑vanced to the City of Mayorck, about Te [...] Miles from that place; that Night we lay by a Well ſide, and in the Morning we e [...]ed the Suburbs; the Vice-Roy was informed of us, and we were com⯑manded to appear before him, who, after he had Examin'd us, and heard our Story, order'd we ſhould be maintain'd at his own Coſt, till we could have Paſſage to our own Country. But our Engliſh Ships ſeldom Trading thither, we Petition'd the Vice-Roy for Paſſage in the King of Spain's Gallies, which were in the Road bound for Alicant, which he graciouſly granted us; after ſome other Troubles we met with contrary Winds, and it was five Weeks ere we could reach the Downs, where we arriv'd in Sept. 1644. The [97]Commader of the Ship was Capt. Smith of Rotherhithe. Mr. Thomas Saunders, my Wives Brother, being in Mayorck not long after we came from thence, ſaw our Boat hung for a Monument upon the ſide of Great Church there; and Mr. Robert Hales was there 1671. and aſſures me, that he ſaw the Naked Ribs and Skeleton of it then hanging in the ſame place. Wanly's Hiſt. Man, p. 642.

The Merciful Preſervation and Deliverance of Capt. Bloſe and his ſhips Company, who were Caſt away in an Iſland of Ice near Ruſſia, this preſent year 1697.

October. the 7th. 1696. We came from Archangel in Ruſſia in the Riga Merchant, Burthen 300 Tuns, 18 Guns, Samuel Bloſe Commander. The 8th we had the Wind at North Weſt by Weſt, we plied to Wind⯑ward, and it blew very hard; the 10th we took two Reefs in our Topſails; the 12th we took in our Topſails, and Reefe [...] Coſts; the 13th about One in the Morn⯑ing we Sprung a Leak, in ſo much that we were forced to ſet both our Pumps to Work, and bear away before the Wind; yet ſtill the Water increaſed; and the 14th we cut our Main-Sail from the Yard, and let him fly overboard, the Weather being ſo exceſſive thick by reaſon of the [98]extraordinary much Snow that then fell, that we could not ſee the Land, nor any place where we could run our Ship A⯑ſhore to ſave our Lives; The 15 in the Mor⯑ning, about One of the Clock, by For⯑tune, unexpected of us, before we ſaw any Land, we ſtruck upon an Iſland, called by the Ruſſes, Muſſoves, lying in the Miſſen Gulf, which by the Miraculous hand of God we light on, and were all got⯑ten well aſhore; for as God of his wonder⯑ful goodneſs ſo order'd it, we ſtruck about High Water, and as the Water fell away, our Ship dryed, ſo that we got ſafe to Land without any harm; and if it had pleaſed God we happen'd ever ſo little, either to one ſide or the other we ſhould have all periſh'd among the Iſlands of Ice. When we got all aſhore, we made us a Tent, and when it was Day, looking about us, ſaw ſomething like Houſes; ſo our Captain and a Dutch Merchant Paſſenger that we had on Board of our Ship, and our Doctor, went to ſee what they were, thinking to find ſome Inhabitants, but they could find none: then we went Aboard our Ship, and got all our Beef aſhore that we could find, about One hundred Weight of Bisket Bread, which was all the Bread we could find; then we Calculated that our Beef at Four Pieces a day, would ſerve [99]us till the middle of May, and every Man one Bisket a Day; but that would laſt but a ſmall time: Beſides, we got aſhore Three Boxes of Candles, which was a great comfort to us in our neceſſity, by reaſon we had not above Three hours Day. Then we got all our things we had ſaved to the Houſe that we ſaw; and going a⯑bout diſcover'd a great many Houſes, and we went to them to ſee what we could find, expecting to ſee ſome People, but there was none but empty Cask, ſo we came home to the place that we had car⯑ried our things to again; but, as God would have it, juſt againſt the Houſe that we had taken for our Habitation, in the Snow we ſaw Two Cask, and we went and found them both full of Rye Meal, which was a Joy beyond meaſure to us in our Extremity; and then we found another Cask with a Kneading-Tub in it: Decem. the Firſt, the Dutch Merchant, and Four more of our hands went out and took a Compaſs, and Proviſion with them, upon Diſcovery, hoping to ſee ſome bo⯑dy to ſpeak to, that we might know where we were, but they could find no Inha⯑bitants, the Courſe they ſteered was S. E. but when they came to turn back, their Compaſs unhung, and they not mind⯑ing it, went up and down a long time, [100]and at length came to the ſame place where they were when they firſt turned back; then they looked more earneſtly upon their Compaſs, and found it unhung, they hung it, and came the direct way home again; but when they came in ſight of a Houſe that was about Two Miles off of our Houſe, the Merchant and one more Travelling better than the o⯑ther Three, went before, and promis'd them to make a Fire againſt they came; but the Weather being ſo ſevere, they were not able to come along, but were Starved with the Cold before they got up to us: So the Lord, of his great Mer⯑cy, made Proviſion for us until the Firſt of March, it being a Sabbath-day, and we at our Devotion, one of our Boys being at another Houſe Broiling of our Victu⯑als, ſaw ſome Men upon the Iſland, he fell down, being much ſurpriz'd, but ſoon got up again, and run and told us; up⯑on which we left our Prayers, and run to ſee what they were; our Merchant could ſpeak the Language, which was the preſervation of all our Lives, for other⯑ways they would have Murther'd us for breaking down their Houſes, and Eating their Proviſions that we found upon the Iſland, for they would not be perſwaded but we were Pirats and Robbers, by reaſon that [101]we were Building of a Small Veſſel for our own Security, to carry us to the Main when the Ice broke up; but our Merchant ſpeaking their Language, perſuaded them, and promiſed them to make them Satiſ⯑faction for what Damage we had done them; for we broke down Two of their Houſes for Firing: So they turned us out of our Houſes, and took our Meal from us. The Men that came over were in Num⯑ber 500, Ten Men in a Boat, they came there to kill Seales: They asked us what we had ſeen? We told them, Nothing but Two Ravens. They made very ſtrange of it, and would not believe it: For they told us, That none of them live there but Six Weeks in the Year, whether they catch Fiſh or not, the Iſland was ſo Haunted. Soon after the Ruſſians came there, that Man that ſaved his Life, and got well home with the Merchant, when the other Three were Starved with the Cold, Died, which made Four that were Dead, our Com⯑pliment at firſt was 27, but then we had but 23 Living: Then our Merchant went to the Ruſſians, and deſired them to put us over, and he would ſatisfie them for it; They granted we ſhould have Six Boats, and 60 Men to Drag us over the Ice, for it was Seven Leagues from the Main, and all full of Iſlands of Ice between, [102]inſomuch that they were 24 hours com⯑ing over, when they came upon the ſaid Iſland: But it pleaſed the Lord ſo to or⯑der it, that after they had dragg'd us o⯑ver Two ſmall Iſlands of Ice, that as God parted the Red-Sea for the Children of Iſra⯑el to paſs through, ſo he parted the Ice from us, inſomuch that we got over in Six hours time, which the Ruſſians told us was never ſo before. But when we came over we lay where there were 1000 Men a Fiſhing. The firſt Night: and the next Morning we hired Sledges to drag us to ſome place Inhabited: The Beaſts that dragg'd the Sledges along they call Roeys, they are like Deer, but larger: We were forc'd to be Dragg'd, we could not Travel our Limbs were ſo diſabled with the Cold be⯑fore we got off the aforeſaid Iſland: be⯑ſides the Snow was of ſuch a vaſt thickneſs, and ſo hard Frozen, that we could find no Path, if we could Travel never ſo well, if the Shamake [...], as they call them, had not ſhown us the way; the firſt Night of our Journey upon the Sledges our Carpenters Mate died, ſo we made a Hole in the Snow and put him in, and left him. Then our Captain, and the Merchant, and the Doctor, being but ſingle in a Sledge, and we near double, went faſter than us to the next Town to provide Victuals and freſh Sledges [103]for us againſt we came; and when we came to that Town we got Sledges that had Horſes to draw them along, ſo we Rid Night and Day till we came to Archangel; the Third day of our Travels another of our Men Died, and the 5th day another; the former we Buryed in the Ground, be⯑cauſe we were nigh a Town, but the other we Buryed in the Snow: So that when we came to Archangel, out of our 27 Men, we had but 20 left. March the 17th we came off the aforeſaid Iſland, and we Tra⯑vell'd Night and Day, except the firſt Night, until the 25th of the ſame Month. Two days after we came to Archangel we loſt another Man. At Archangel our Cap⯑tain got Stoves for us to inhabit in, and ſent us Proviſion, where we remain'd till the 6th day of June, when there came in Six Sail of Hollanders, being the Firſt that came that year, who divided us amongſt them, and brought us to Greenland, and from thence ſome of us were brought to Holland, and ſome to Hamborough, from whence 16 of us got Paſſage to England, where we Arriv'd the 15 of Nov. 1697. Two went to the Straits, and our Dutch Merchant tarried in Holland.

This Account is given by Francis Lee, who was Boatſwain of the Ship, and Atteſted by others now Living in London.