SECTION XXXIV.
After we had past here some seven or eight dayes, one evening, with a flawe from the shore, our ship drove off into the channell, and before we could get up our anchor, and set our sayles, we were driven so farre to lee-wards, that we could not recover into the bay: and night comming on, with a short sayle, wee beate off and on till the morning. At the break of the day, conferring with the captaine and master of my ship what was best to be done, we resolved Tobias Cove. to seeke out Tobias Cove, which lyeth over against Cape Fryo, on the southern part of the straites, because in all the reaches of the straites, for the most part, the winde bloweth trade, and therefore little profit to be made by turning to winde-wards. And from the ilands of the Pengwins to the ende of the straites towards the South sea, there is no anchoring in the channell; and if we should be put to lee-wards of this cove, we had no succour till we came to the ilands of Pengwins: and some of our company which had bin with master Thomas Candish in the voyage in which he died, and in the same cove many weekes, undertooke to be our pilots thither. Whereupon we bare up, being some two leagues thither, having so much winde as we could scarce lye by it with our course and bonnet of each; but bearing up before the winde, wee put out our topsayles and spritsayle, and within a little while the winde Setting of the ship upon a rock. began to fayle us, and immediately our ship gave a mightie blow upon a rocke, and stucke fast upon it. And had we had but the fourth part of the wind which we had in all the night past, but a moment before we strucke the rocke, our shippe, doubtlesse, with the blow had broken her selfe all to peeces. But our provident and most gracious God which commaundeth wind and sea, watched over us, and delivered us with his powerfull hand from the unknowne danger and hidden destruction, that so we might prayse him for his fatherly bountie and protection, and with the prophet David say, Except the Lord, keepe the cittie, the watch-men watch in vaine; for if our God had not kept our shippe, we had bin all swallowed up alive without helpe or redemption; and therefore he for his mercies sake grant that the memoriall of his benefits doe never depart from before our eyes, and that we may evermore prayse him for our wonderfull deliverance, and his continuall providence by day and by night.
The company dismayed.
My company with this accident were much amazed, and not without just cause. Immediately we used our endevour to free our selves, and with our boates sounded round about our shippe, in the mean time assaying[161] our pumpe to know Diligence to free it. if our shippe made more water then her ordinary; we found nothing increased, and round about our shippe deepe water, saving under the mid-shippe, for shee was a floate a head and a sterne: and bearing some fathome before the mayne mast, and in no other part, was like to be our destruction; for being ebbing water, the waight in the head and sterne by fayling of the water, began to open her plankes in the middest; and upon the upper decke, they were gone one from another some two fingers, some more; which we sought to ease and remedie by lightning of her burden, and throwing into the sea all that came to hand; and laying out an anchor, we sought to wend her off:[162] and such was the will and force we put to the capsten and tackles fastned upon the cable, that we plucked the ring of the anchor out of the eye, but after recovered it, though not serviceable.
To the laborious God propitious,
All our labour was fruitlesse, till God was pleased that the flood came, and then we had her off with great joy and comfort, when finding the current favourable with us, we stood over to English bay, and fetching it, we anchored there, having beene some three houres upon the rocke, and with the blow, as after we saw when our ship was brought aground in Perico (which is the port of Panama), a great part of her sheathing was beaten off on both sides in her bulges,[163] and some foure foote long and a foote square of her false stemme, joyning to the keele, wrested a crosse, like unto a hogges yoake, which hindered her sayling very much.
and therefore praysed.
Here we gave God prayse for our deliverance, and afterward procured to supply our wood and water, which we had throwne overbourd to ease our shippe, which was not much: that supplyed, it pleased God (who is not ever angry), to looke upon us with comfort, and to send us a fayre and large wind, and so we set sayle once againe, in hope to disemboke the straite; but some dozen leagues before we came to the mouth of it, the wind changed, and forced us to seeke out some cove or bay, with our boates to ride in neere at hand, that we might not be forced to returne farre backe into the straites.
They sounded a cove some sixteene leagues from the Crabby cove. mouth of the straite, which after we called Crabby cove. It brooked its name well for two causes; the one for that all the water was full of a small kinde of redd crabbes; the other, for the crabbed mountaines which over-topped it; a third, we might adde, for the crabbed entertainement it gave us. In this cove we anchored, but the wind freshing in, and three or foure hilles over-topping, like sugar-loaves, altered and straightned the passage of the wind in such manner, as forced it downe with such violence in flawes and furious blusterings, as was like to over-set our shippe at an anchor, and caused her to drive, and us to weigh; but before we could weigh it, shee was so neere the rockes, and the puffes and gusts of wind so sodaine and uncertaine, sometimes scant, sometimes large, that it forced us to cut our cable, and yet dangerous if our shippe did not cast the right way. Here necessitie, not being subject to any law, forced us to put our selves into the hands of him that was able to deliver us. We cut our cable and sayle all in one instant; and God, to shew his power and gratious bountie towardes us, was pleased that our shippe cast the contrary way towards the shore, seeming that he with his own hand did wend her about; for in lesse then her length shee flatted,[164] and in all the voyage but at that instant, shee flatted with difficultie, for that shee was long, the worst propertie shee had. On either side we might see the rockes under us, and were not halfe a shippes length from the shore, and if she had once touched, it had beene impossible to have escaped.
Magnified ever be our Lord God, which delivered Ionas out of the whales belly; and his apostle Peter from being overwhelmed in the waves; and us from so certaine perishing.