About nine o’clock in the morning the ship’s company, having a minister on board with them, were at their exercises of devotion, which they have every morning, beginning with singing a psalm, as we do; then the minister prays, but not long, and the conclusion is to sing about two verses of another psalm, and so they part; except on the Lord’s Day, as this was, their chaplain preached a short sermon in the morning in Swedish, but none in the afternoon. Whitelocke for his own company had the usual exercises of praying and preaching by his chaplain Mr. De la Marche, Mr. Ingelo being sick.
Towards the evening the wind began to be fresh again; they kept their course near Bornholm, and might discern the castle. After Whitelocke was gone to rest, Vice-Admiral Clerke, who was on board with him, followed a ship to inquire if she heard any news of a Swedish ship laden with salt from Portugal; at which some of Whitelocke’s company taking offence, the Vice-Admiral desisted; but by this deviation, the ‘Amarantha’ (which is not fleet of sail) lost three leagues, which she was cast back in her course, and was brought in great danger by sailing too near the shore; but the Lord guided them.
June 5, 1654.
Meet an English ship. In the morning Whitelocke was out of sight of Bornholm, and pursued his course, the wind blowing a little in a good quarter. About nine o’clock they descried some ships, of which one seemed to be a great one; and coming nearer, they perceived an English ship to be with them. The ’Amarantha’ fired a gun to warn them to strike sail, she carrying the flag in her maintop, and being a man-of-war of Sweden. The English captain did not obey, and Clerke commanded to shoot again at him; but Whitelocke ordered Clerke first to send his boat with some of Whitelocke’s servants, to advertise the English captain that Whitelocke was in the Swedish ship. They coming on board found the captain in choler, preparing to fight with the Swede, denying their sovereignty on these seas; but being informed by his countrymen that the English Ambassador was on board the Swedish ship, he presently, and Mr. Fisher, a merchant, with him, came to Whitelocke, rejoicing to see him, and said that if he had not been there the Swedish Vice-Admiral should have had hot work; but now he struck sail to the Ambassador, whom he acquainted that all was well in England; that he had brought in his ship the commissioners to agree the differences between our Commonwealth and Denmark, who were now at Copenhagen; and that when they passed the Sound, the King of Denmark’s officers were very friendly to them. He told Whitelocke also that two English frigates, sent by the Protector for Whitelocke’s transportation, were arrived at Hamburg, and waited for Whitelocke there; after giving him some wine, and discourse, Whitelocke dismissed this Captain Morgan to proceed in his voyage to Danzic, whither he was bound. At his parting all were friends, and Clerke gave him two guns, after the Swedish custom, but Morgan answered him with seven pieces of ordnance; then Clerke gave him two more guns, to which Morgan gave two also, and a third a little while after.
The ‘Amarantha’ having loitered by reason of the calm, which continued till the evening, they were most part of this day within sight of the isle of Rügen, near the coast of Pomerland, and part of that Duchy which fell in partage to one of the duke’s sons, who there kept his court in a fair castle, whereof somewhat yet remains. The island appears high to those that sail by it, and hath in length about eight German miles, and about five in breadth; the King Gustavus took it, and it hath since continued in the possession of the Swedes, and was confirmed to them by the late treaty of Munster; the coast is full of white sands, and dangerous to those who are not well acquainted with the passages, which hereabout are strait, and a bank of sand comes far out into the sea, on which Whitelocke was in great peril, within four-fathom water in the night; but they were glad to veer back again and tack about to escape the danger.
The wind blew fresh from the north-east, by which he continued his course till about midnight; when there came a hideous storm of wind, thunder, rain, and lightning, which caused them to furl their sails, and lasted about three hours; but the waves continued very high above twelve hours together afterwards, it being the nature of this sea when it is once stirred, that by reason of the great depth it will not be still again for many hours after. Some of Whitelocke’s company were much affrighted with this tempest, and not without cause; but it pleased God to cease the storm, and give fair weather, and thereby more cause to remember the experiences they have had of His divine goodness throughout their whole voyage.
June 6, 1654.
The coast of Pomerania. In the morning; the wind continued fair, and they made good way till towards eight o’clock, when it grew calm till about seven o’clock in the evening. All this day they were upon the coast of Pomerland. One of the mariners, from the top-gallant, espying land and a town, informed them that it was Wismar; but coming nearer to the shore, they found it to be Rostock, eight leagues further from Lübeck than Wismar is. Both these towns are subject to the Crown of Sweden, port towns, and of good trade; Rostock more famous to the High Dutch for their exceeding strong and thick beer.
In the evening the wind blew fair north-west, but the sky grew thick, and the night coming on, they, for fear of falling upon the coast, tacked off again to sea, and out of their course. About eleven o’clock at night the storm began much more violent than the night before, continuing about six hours, to the imminent danger of the ship to be overset and foundered in the sea, but still God preserved them. About midnight was a horrible noise, the thunder fierce and strangely loud, the sky all in flames with the wonderful lightnings; and though it be frequent to meet with great tempests of thunder and lightnings upon this sea, and much more dreadful than those in England, yet now the officers and mariners of the ship affirmed that they never saw the like to this tempest, and that they were almost blind with the shining and flashes of this lightning. They saw also on the land houses burning, set on fire by the lightning, any flame whereof fastening upon the combustible matter of the ship the same had instantly been fired and all within her inevitably had perished. But still God was their defence and deliverer. The tempest was so outrageous that they were forced to take down their sails and let fall their anchors. Here they found the difference between Sweden and this country: there, at midnight, one might plainly read without a candle; here, though nearer the summer solstice and the days at longest, they found at least four hours of dark night, as seeming near the winter.