The nights at this time, and the cold weather increased so fast upon us, that wee were out of all hopes of getting any more foode before the next Spring: our onely hopes were, to kill a Beare now and then, that might by chance wander that way. The next day therefore taking an exacter survey of all our victuals, and finding our proportion too small by halfe, for our time and companie; wee agreed among our selves to come to Allowance, that is, to stint our selves to one reasonable meale a day, and to keepe Wednesdayes and Fridayes Fasting dayes; excepting from the Frittarsfn5 or Graves of the Whale (a very loathsome meate) of which we allowed our selves sufficient to suffice our present hunger: and at this dyet we continued some three moneths or thereabouts.
Having by this time finished what ever we possibly could invent, for our preservations in that desolate desert; our clothes & Shooes also were so worne and torne (all to pieces almost) that wee must of necessity invent some new device for their reparations. Of Roape-yarne therefore, we made us thread, & of Whale-bones needles to sew our clothes withall. The nights were wax’t very long, and by the tenth of October the cold so violent, that the Sea was frozen over: which had beene enough to have daunted the most assured resolutions. At which time our businesse being over, and nothing now to exercise our mindes upon; our heads began then to be troubled with a thousand sorts of imaginations. Then had wee leisure (more than enough) to complaine our selves of our present and most miserable conditions. Then had wee time to bewaile our wives and children at home; and to imagine what newes our unfortunate miscarriages must needes be unto them. Then thought wee of our parents also, and what a cutting Corasive it would be to them, to heare of the untimely deaths of their children. Otherwhiles againe, wee revive our selves with some comfort, that our friends might take, in hoping that it might please God to preserve us (even in this poore estate) untill the next yeare. Sometimes did we varie our griefes; complaining one while of the cruelty of our Master, that would offer to leave us to these distresses: and then presently againe fell wee, not onely to excuse him, but to lament both him and his companie, fearing they had beene overtaken by the yce, and miserably that way perished.
Thus tormented in mind with our doubts, our feares, and our griefes; and in our bodies with hunger, cold and wants; that hideous monster of desperation, began now to present his ugliest shape unto us: he now pursued us, hee now laboured to seize us. Thus finding our selves in a Labyrinth, as it were, of a perpetuall miserie, wee thought it not best to give too much way unto our griefes; fearing, they also would most of all have wrought upon our weakenesse. Our prayers we now redoubled unto the Almighty, for strength and patience, in these our miseries: and the Lord graciously listned unto us, and granted these our petitions. By his assistance therefore, wee shooke off these thoughts, and cheer’d up our selves againe, to use the best meanes for our preservations.
Now therefore began we to thinke upon our Venison, and the preserving of that; and how to order our firing in this cold weather. For feare therefore our firing should faile us at the end of the yeare, we thought best to roast every day halfe a Deere, and to stow it in hogsheads. Which wee putting now in practice, wee forthwith filled three Hogsheads and an halfe; leaving so much raw, as would serve to roast every Sabbath day a quarter and so for Christmas day, and the like.
This conclusion being made amongst us; then fell wee againe to bethinke us of our miseries, both passed and to come: and how, (though if it pleased God to give us life, yet should) we live as banished men, not onely from our friends, but all other companie. Then thought we of the pinching cold, and of the pining hunger: these were our thoughts, this our discourse to passe away the time withall. But as if all this miserie had beene too little, we presently found another increase of it: For, examining our provisions once more, wee found that all our Frittars of the Whale were almost spoyled with the wet that they had taken: after which by lying so close together, they were now growne mouldie. And our Beare and Venison we perceived againe not to amount to such a quantity, as to allow us five meales a weeke: whereupon we were faine to shorten our stomacks of one meale more: so that for the space of three moneths after that, we for foure dayes in the weeke fed upon the unsavory and mouldie Frittars, and the other three, we feasted it with Beare and Venison. But as if it were not enough for us to want meate, we now began to want light also: all our meales proved suppers now; for little light could we see; even the glorious Sunne (as if unwilling to behold our miseries) masking his lovely face from us, under the sable vaile of cole-blacke night. Thus from the fourteenth of October, till the third of February, we never saw the Sunne; nor did hee all that time, ever so much as peepe above the Horizon. But the Moone we saw at all times, day and night (when the cloudes obscured her not) shining as bright as shee doth in England. The Skie, ’tis true, is very much troubled with thicke and blacke weather all the Winter time: so that then, we could not see the. Moone, nor could discerne what point of the Compasse shee bore upon us. A kinde of daylight wee had indeed, which glimmer’d some eight houres a day unto us; in October time I meane: for from thence unto the first of December, even that light was shortened tenne or twelve minutes a day constantly: so that from the first of December till the twentieth, there appeared no light at all; but all was one continued night. All that wee could perceive was, that in a cleare season now and then, there appeared a little glare of white, like some show of day towards the South: but no light at all. And this continued till the first of Ianuary, by which time wee might perceive the day a little to increase. All this darkesome time, no certainety could wee have when it should be day, or when night: onely my selfe out of mine owne little judgement, kept the observation of it thus. First bearing in minde the number of the Epact, I made my addition by a day supposed, (though not absolutely to be known, by reason of the darkenesse) by which I judged of the age of the Moone: and this gave me my rule of the passing of the time; so that at the comming of the Ships into the Port, I told them the very day of the moneth, as directly as they themselves could tell mee.
At the beginning of this darkesome, irkesome time, wee sought some meanes of preserving light amongst us: finding therefore a piece of Sheete-lead over a seame of one of the Coolers; that we ript off, and made three Lampes of it: which maintaining with Oyle that wee found in the Coopers Tent, and Roape-yarne serving us in steed of Candle-Weekes, wee kept them continually burning. And this was a great comfort to us in our extremity. Thus did we our best to preserve our selves; but all this could not secure us: for wee in our owne thoughts, accounted our selves but dead men; and that our Tent was then our darkesome dungeon, and we did but waite our day of tryall by our judge, to know whether wee should live or dye. Our extremities being so many, made us sometimes in impatient speeches to breake forth against the causers of our miseries: but then againe, our consciences telling us of our owne evill deservings; we tooke it either for a punishment upon us for our former wicked lives; or else for an example of Gods mercie, in our wonderfull deliverance. Humbling our selves therefore under the mighty hand of God, wee cast downe our selves before him in prayer, two or three times a day, which course we constantly held all the time of our misery.
The new yeare now begun, as the dayes began to lengthen, so the cold began to strengthen: which cold came at last to that extremitie, as that it would raise blisters in our flesh, as if wee had beene burnt with fire: and if wee touch’t iron at any time, it would sticke to our fingers like Bird-lime. Sometimes if we went but out a-doores to fetch in a little water, the cold would nip us in such sort, that it made us as sore as if wee had beene beaten in some cruell manner. All the first part of the Winter, we found water under the yce, that lay upon the Bache on the Sea-shoare. Which water issued out of an high Bay or Cliffe of yce, and ranne into the hollow of the Bache, there remaining with a thicke yce over it: which yce, wee at one certaine place daily digging through with pick-axes, tooke so much water as served for our drinking.
This continued with us untill the tenth of lanuarie: and then were wee faine to m
ake shift with snow-water; which we melted by putting hot Irons into it. And this was our drinke untill the twentieth of May following.
By the last of lanuarie, were the dayes growne to some seven or eight houres long; and then we again tooke another view of our victuals: which we now found to grow so short, that it could no wayes last us above sixe weekes longer. And this bred a further feare of famine amongst us. But our recourse was in this, as in other our extremities, unto Almighty God; who had helps, we knew, though wee saw no hopes. And thus spent wee our time untill the third of Februarie. This proved a marvellous cold day; yet a faire and cleare one: about the middle whereof, all cloudes now quite dispersed, and nights sable curtaine drawne; Aurora with her golden face smiled once againe upon us, at her rising out of her bed: for now the glorious Sunne with his glittering beames, began to guild the highest tops of the loftie mountaines. The brightnesse of the Sunne, and the whitenesse of the snow, both together was such, as that it was able to have revived even a dying spirit. But to make a new addition to our new joy, we might perceive two Beares, (a shee one with her Cubbe) now comming towards our Tent: whereupon wee straight arming our selves with our lances, issued out of the Tent to await her comming. Shee soone cast her greedy eyes upon us; and with full hope of devouring us, shee made the more haste unto us: but with our hearty lances we gave her such a welcome, as that shee fell downe upon the ground, tumbling up and downe, and biting the very snow for anger. Her Cubbe seeing this, by flight escaped us. The weather now was so cold, that longer wee were not able to stay abroad: retiring therefore into our Tent, wee first warmed our selves; and then out againe to draw the dead Beare in unto us. We flaied her, cut her into pieces of a Stone weight or thereabouts, which serv’d us for our dinners. And upon this Beare we fed some twenty dayes; for shee was very good flesh, and better than our Venison. This onely mischance wee had with her: that upon the eating of her Liver, our very skinnes peeled off: for mine owne part, I being sicke before, by eating of that Liver, though I lost my skinne, yet recovered I my health upon it. Shee being spent, either wee must seeke some other meate, or else fall aboard with our roast Venison in the Caske, which we were very loath to doe for feare of famishing, if so be that should be thus spent, before the Fleete came out of England. Amid’st these our feares, it pleased God to send divers Beares unto our Tent; some fortie at least, as we accounted. Of which number we kill’d seven: That is to say, the second of March one; the fourth, another; and the tenth, a wonderfull great Beare, sixe foote high at least. All which we flayed and roasted upon woodden spits, (having no better kitchen-furniture than that, and a frying-pan which we found in the Tent.) They were as good savory meate, as any beefe could be. Having thus gotten good store of such foode, wee kept not our selves now to such straight allowance as before; but eate frequently two or three meales a-day: which began to increase strength and abilitie of body in us.
By this, the cheerfull dayes so fast increased, that the severall sorts of Fowles, which had all the Winter-time avoyded those quarters, began now againe to resort thither, unto their Summer-abiding. The sixteenth of March, one of our two Mastive Dogges went out of the Tent from us in the morning: but from that day to this he never more returned to us, nor could wee ever heare what was become of him. The Fowles that I before spake of, constantly use every Spring time to resort unto that Coast, being used to breede there most abundantly. Their foode is a certaine kinde of small fishes. Yearely upon the abundant comming of these Fowles, the Foxes which had all this Winter kept their Burrowes under the Rockes, began now to come abroad, and seeke for their livings. For them wee set up three Trappes like Rat-trappes, and bayted them with the skinnes of these Fowles, which wee had found upon the snow; they falling there in their flight from the hill whereupon they bred, towards the Sea. For this Fowle, being about the bignesse of a Ducke, hath her legs placed so close unto her rumpe, as that when they alight once upon the land, they are very hardly (if ever) able to get up againe, by reason of the misplacing of their legs, and the weight of their bodies; but being in the water, they raise themselves with their pinions well enough. After wee had made These Trappes, and set them apart one from another in the snow, we caught fiftie Foxes in them: all which wee roasted, and found very good meate of them. Then tooke we a Beares skinne, and laying the flesh side upward, wee made Springes of Whales bone, wherewith wee caught about 60. of these Fowles, about the bignesse of a pigeon.
Thus continued wee untill the first of May; and the weather then growing warme; wee were now pretty able to goe abroad to seeke for more provision. Every day therefore abroad we went; but nothing could we encounter withall, untill the 24. of May: when espying a Bucke, wee thought to have kill’d him with our Dogge: but he was growne so fat and lazie, that hee could not pull downe the Deere. Seeking further out therefore, we found abundance of Willocks egges; (which is a Fowle about the bignesse of a Ducke) of which egges though there were great store, yet wee being but two of us together, brought but thirty of them to the Tent that day; thinking the next day to fetch a thousand more of them: but the day proved so cold, with so much Easterly winde, that wee could not stirre out of our Tent.
Staying at home therefore upon the 25. of May, we for that day omitted our ordinary custome. Our order of late (since the faire weather) was, every day, or every second day, to goe up to the top of a mountaine, to spie if wee could discerne the water in the Sea; which untill the day before we had not seene. At which time, a storme of winde comming out of the Sea, brake the maine yce within the Sownd: after which, the vvinde comming Easterly, carried all the yce into the Sea, and cleared the Sownd a great way, although not neere the shoare at first, seeing the cleare water came not neere our Tent by three miles at least.
This 25. of May therefore, wee all day staying in the Tent, there came two Ships of Hull into the Sownd: who knowing that there had been men left there the yeare before; the Master (full of desire to know wether we were alive or dead) man’d out a Shallop from the Ship; with orders to row as farre up the Sownd as they could, and then to hale up their Shallop, and travell over-land upon the snow unto the Tent. These men at their comming ashore, found the Shallop which we had haled from our Tent into the water, with a purpose to goe seeke some Sea-horses the next faire weather: the Shallop being then already fitted with all necessaries for that enterprize. This sight brought them into a quandary; and although this encounter made them hope, yet their admiration made them doubt, that it was not possible for us still to remaine alive. Taking therefore our lances out of the Boate, towards the Tent they come; wee never so much as perceiving of them: for wee were all gathered together, now about to goe to prayers in the inner Tent; onely Thomas Ayers was not yet come in to us out of the greater Tent. The Hull men now comming neere our Tent, haled it with the usuall word of the Sea crying Hey, he answered againe with Ho, which sudden answer almost amazed them all, causing them to stand still, halfe afraid at the matter. But we within hearing of them, joyfully came out of the Tent; all blacke as we were with the smoake, and with our clothes all tattered with wearing. This uncouth sight made them further amazed at us: but perceiving us to be the very men left there all the yeare; with joyfull hearts embracing us, and wee them againe, they came with us into our Tent. Comming thus in to us, wee shewed them the courtesie of the house, and gave them such Victuals as we had; which was Venison roasted foure moneths before, and a Cuppe of cold water; which for noveltie sake they kindly accepted of us.
Then fell we to aske them what newes? and of the state of the Land at home: and when the London Fleete would come? to all which, they returned us the best answers they could. Agreeing then to leave the Tent; with them wee went to their Shallop, and so a-board the Ship, where we were welcomed after the heartiest and kindest English manner; and there we stayed ourselves untill the comming of the London Fleete, which we much longed for: hoping by them to heare from our friends in England. Wee were told that they would be there the next day; but it was full three dayes ere they came, which seemed to us as te
dious a three dayes as any we had yet endured: so much we now desired to heare from our friends, our wives and children.
The 28. of May, the London Fleete came into the Port to our great comfort. A-board the Admirall we went, unto the right noble Captaine, Captaine William Goodler, who is worthy to be honoured by all Sea-men for his courtesie and bounty. This is the Gentleman that is every yeare chiefe Commander of this Fleete; and right worthy he is so to be, being a very wise man, and an expert Mariner as most be in England, none dispraised. Unto this Gentleman right welcome we were; and joyfully by him received: hee giving order, that we should have any thing that was in the Ship, that might doe us good, and increase our strength; of his owne charges giving us apparell also, to the value of twenty pounds worth.