Page:The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation 16.djvu/114

 fiue and twenty leagues, within the Streights, where wee found a sea answerable to the Ocean.

In this time we freed our ship from water, and after wee had rested a little, our men were not able to mooue; their sinewes were stiffe, and their flesh dead, and many of them (which is most lamentable to bee reported) were so eaten with lice, as that in their flesh did lie clusters of lice as big as peason, yea and some as big as beanes. Being in this miserie we were constrained to put into a cooue for the refreshing our men. Our Master knowing the shore and euery cooue very perfectly, put in with the shore, and mored to the trees, as beforetime we had done, laying our ankor to the seaward. Here we continued vntil the twentieth of October; but not being able any longer to stay through extremitie of famine, the one and twentieth we put off into the chanell, the weather being reasonable calme: but before night it blew most extremely at Westnorthwest. The storme growing outrageous, our men could scarcely stand by their labour; and the Streights being full of turning reaches we were constrained by discretion of the Captaine and Master in their accounts to guide the ship in the hell-darke night, when we could not see any shore, the chanell being in some places scarse three miles broad.

But our captaine, as wee first passed through the Streights drew such an exquisite plat of the same, as I am assured it cannot in any sort be bettered: which plat hee and the Master so often perused, and so carefully regarded, as that in memorie they had euery turning and creeke, and in the deepe darke night without any doubting they conueyed the ship through that crooked chanell; so that I conclude, the world hath not any so skilfull pilots for that place, as they are: for otherwise wee could neuer haue passed in such sort as we did.

The 25 wee came to an Island in the Streights named Penguin-isle, whither wee sent our boate to seeke reliefe, for there were great abundance of birds, and the weather was very calme; so wee came to an ankor by the Island in seuen fadomes. While our boate was at shore, and we had great store of Penguins, there arose a sudden storme, so that our ship did driue ouer a breach and our boate sanke at the shore. Captaine Cotton and the Lieutenant being on shore leapt in the boate, and freed the same, and threw away all the birdes, and with great difficultie recouered the ship: my selfe also was in the boate the same time,