“On the two pork days in each week for said mess, 5 lbs. of pork and 2-1/2 pints of peas.
“And on the fish day in each week for said mess, 2-1/2 lbs. of fish and 1/2 lb. of butter.
“The whole at 16 ounces to the pound.
“And allow each head 7 lbs. of bread, of 14 ounces to the pound, by the week.
“And 3 pints of beer, and 2 quarts of water (whereof one of the quarts for drinking), each head by the day for the space of a month.
“And a gallon of water (whereof two quarts for drinking) each head, by the day after, during their being on their Passage.”
Another Moravian was chosen as nurse of the company, although it happened at least once that he was incapacitated, for every man in the party was sick except Spangenberg, who was a capital sailor, and not affected by rough weather. His endurance was severely tested too, for while the breeze at times was so light that they unitedly prayed for wind, “thinking that the sea was not their proper element, for from the earth God had made them, and on the earth He had work for them to do,” at other times storms broke upon them and waves swept the decks, filling them with awe, though not with fear. “The wind was high, the waves great, we were happy that we have a Saviour who would never show us malice; especially were we full of joy that we had a witness in our hearts that it was for a pure purpose we sailed to Georgia,”—so runs the quaint record of one tempestuous day.
A more poetic expression of the same thought is given by Spangenberg in a poem written during the voyage, and sent home to David Nitschmann to be set to the music of some “Danish Melody” known to them both. There is a beauty of rhythm in the original which the English cannot reproduce, as though the writer had caught the cadence of the waves, on some bright day when the ship “went softly” after a season of heavy storm.
“Gute Liebe, deine Triebe
Zuenden unsre Triebe an,
Dir zu leben, dir zu geben,
Was ein Mensch dir geben kann;
Denn dein Leben, ist, zu geben
Fried’ und Segen aus der Hoeh.
Und das Kraenken zu versenken
In die ungeheure See.
“Herr wir waren von den Schaaren
Deiner Schaeflein abgetrennt;
Und wir liefen zu den Tiefen,
Da das Schwefelfeuer brennt,
Und dein Herze brach vor Schmerze,
Ueber unsern Jammerstand;
O wie liefst du! O wie riefst du!
Bist du uns zu dir gewandt.
“Als die Klarheit deiner Wahrheit
Unsern ganzen Geist durchgoss,
Und von deinen Liebesscheinen
Unser ganzes Herz zerfloss,
O wie regte und bewegte
Dieses deine Liebesbrust,
Uns zu hegen und zu pflegen,
Bis zur suessen Himmelslust.
“Dein Erbarmen wird uns Armen,
Alle Tage wieder neu,
Mit was suessen Liebeskuessen
Zeigst du deine Muttertreu.
O wie heilig und wie treulich
Leitest du dein Eigentum;
O der Gnaden dass wir Maden
Werden deine Kron’ und Ruhm.
“Wir empfehlen unsre Seelen
Deinem Aug’ und Herz und Hand,
Denn wir werden nur auf Erden
Wallen nach dem Vaterland.
O gieb Gnade auf dem Pfade,
Der zum Reich durch Leiden fuehrt,
Ohn’ Verweilen fortzueilen
Bis uns deine Krone ziert.
“Unser Wille bleibe stille
Wenn es noch so widrig geht;
Lass nur brausen, wueten, sausen,
Was von Nord und Osten weht.
Lass nur stuermen, lass sich tuermen
Alle Fluthen aus dem See,
Du erblickest und erquickest
Deine Kinder aus der Hoeh’.”
(Love Divine, may Thy sweet power
Lead us all for Thee to live,
And with willing hearts to give Thee
What to Thee a man can give;
For from heaven Thou dost give us
Peace and blessing, full and free,
And our miseries dost bury
In the vast, unfathomed sea.
Lord, our wayward steps had led us
Far from Thy safe-guarded fold,
As we hastened toward the darkness
Where the sulphurous vapors rolled;
And Thy kind heart throbbed with pity,
Our distress and woe to see,
Thou didst hasten, Thou didst call us,
Till we turned our steps to Thee.
As Thy Truth’s convincing clearness
Filled our spirits from above,
And our stubborn hearts were melted
By the fervor of Thy love,
O Thy loving heart was moved
Us Thy righteous laws to teach,
Us to guide, protect and cherish
Till Thy heaven we should reach.
Without merit we, yet mercy
Each returning day doth bless
With the tokens of Thy goodness,
Pledges of Thy faithfulness.
O how surely and securely
Dost Thou lead and guard Thine own;
O what wonderous grace that mortals
May add lustre to Thy throne.
In our souls we feel the presence
Of Thine eye and heart and hand,
As we here on earth as pilgrims
Journey toward the Fatherland.
O give grace, that on the pathway,
Which through trial leads to heaven,
Without faltering we may hasten
Till to each Thy crown is given.
Though our path be set with danger
Nothing shall our spirits shake,
Winds may rage and roar and whistle,
Storms from North and East may break,
Waves may roll and leap and thunder
On a dark and threatening sea,
Thou dost ever watch Thy children,
And their strength and peace wilt be.)
Before the vessel sailed the Trustees had followed up their request to Spangenberg by requiring the forty Swiss emigrants to promise submission to his authority, and consequently numerous efforts were made to be of service to them. It was disappointing work, in a way, for attempts to give them religious instruction were met with utter indifference, but their material needs were many. There was a great deal of sickness among them, and four died, being buried hastily, and without ceremony. The Moravians themselves were not exempt, several being dangerously ill at times, even Spangenberg was prostrated, from having, he supposed, stayed too long on deck in the night air, tempted thereto by the beauty of a calm night in a southern latitude. But having work to do among the Swiss on the following day, he roused himself, and soon became better. Two of the Moravians were appointed nurses for the sick Swiss, and by the use of the medicine provided by the Trustees, supplemented by unwearying personal attention, they were made as comfortable as possible.