The distinguished British naval commander, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, near relative of Sir Walter Raleigh and favourite of Queen Elizabeth, being ambitious to colonize Newfoundland, obtained in 1578 full power from the queen to undertake a voyage of discovery and settle such parts of North America “as no Christian prince or his subjects could claim from previous possession.” His second voyage was undertaken in 1583, and with five ships under his command, he sailed out of Plymouth Sound, June 11.
Martin Frobisher
A contagious disease breaking out on one of the vessels, the property of Sir Walter Raleigh, and commanded by Captain Butler, it returned to England; the four remaining, the Delight, the Golden Hinde, the Swallow, and the Squirrel, sighted Newfoundland about June 30. Here they landed August 3, taking possession of the harbour of St. John’s in the name of Queen Elizabeth. A miner, brought for the purpose of finding precious metals, should such exist in the newly discovered territory, claimed to locate a silver mine, which news was greeted with much enthusiasm by the entire fleet. So many of the crew having become ill, Sir Humphrey found it advisable to send home the Swallow with the sick on board. He then embarked on the Squirrel, of only ten tons, the smallest ship of the fleet.
Sailing out of the harbour of St. John’s on August 20, he reached by the 27th latitude 44° with fair weather. Two days later a gale arose preceded by a dense fog. The Golden Hinde and Delight were beaten in among the rocks and shoals. The Golden Hinde signalled to stand out to sea, but the Delight did not heed this, and was shortly afterward wrecked upon a shoal, where her stern was quickly beaten to pieces. A few of the crew escaped in a boat, but the captain and a hundred men went down with the ship. The heroic Captain Browne, only recently transferred from the Swallow to the Golden Hinde, when urged to save himself, spurned the idea and stood bravely at his post rather than bear the reproach of having deserted his ship, though that ship, himself, and all hands left aboard were doomed to destruction. The small boat into which a few had crowded, drifted about in the midst of the gale, which threatened every instant to swamp them. They were without food and suffered greatly from thirst. Fearing the overcrowded boat would founder unless materially lightened, a man named Headley suggested that lots be drawn; those drawing the four shortest should be thrown overboard. But one of their number, Richard Clarke, who had been master of the Delight, rose in the bow and answered sternly, “No, we will all live or die in company.”
Two more days passed with increased sufferings. They tried to appease the pangs of hunger with seaweed that floated on the surface of the waves, and they drank sea-water. On the fifth day the man Headley died and one other. All but Clarke were praying to God for death, rather than such continued agony. Clarke tried to encourage them by telling them they would surely reach land by the morrow, and if they did not make it by the seventh day, they might throw him overboard. The seventh day came at last, and by noon they sighted land, as Clarke had prophesied; in the afternoon they landed. They gave thanks to God, and after slaking their unbearable thirst with fresh water, the strong ones found some berries growing wild with which to feed the party. In several days they slowly regained their strength.
Later they rowed along the coast, hoping to reach the bay of Newfoundland and met some Spanish whalers who frequented these waters. They satisfied their hunger by eating berries and peas, landing at intervals for the purpose. Before long they fell in with a Spanish ship; the captain took them to St. Jean de Luz in the Bay of Biscay. Landing near the French frontier, they travelled through France and reached England about the end of the year 1583.
The loss of the Delight was a serious blow to Sir Humphrey Gilbert; of the five ships with which he had started only the Golden Hinde and the Squirrel survived. The impenetrable fogs which at this juncture enveloped these ships were most disheartening to the crew, and already the provisions on board the Squirrel were running low. Officers and men besought Sir Humphrey to return, but reluctantly, with no abatement in his enthusiasm for adventure, he only consented to alter his course, upon their promise to embark with him again the following spring. On August 31 they turned their bows toward home.
On the 2d of September, having hurt his foot and wishing it dressed by the surgeon, Sir Humphrey Gilbert boarded the Golden Hinde, and later repeated the visit to take part in an entertainment with the captain and crew. He mentioned the sorrow at the loss of the Delight, and of certain papers and ore that the Saxon miner had procured in Newfoundland. He was advised to remain aboard the Golden Hinde, the Squirrel being so encumbered with heavy artillery and other freight that she was not considered safe to face the storms so likely to occur in mid-ocean at that season of the year. After consideration, Sir Humphrey replied,—
“I will not now desert my little vessel and crew, after we have encountered so many perils and storms together.”