20th, Tuesday. Perceiving nothing of our ship we began to feel very anxious, for besides being at much expense for our lodgings, we were sometimes compelled to eat with very godless men. Our lodging house was the one most frequented by the superior officers of the ships-of-war, of which there were seven or eight lying there ready to convoy different fleets to various parts.
We went in the afternoon to the Hoorn, quite a large village west of the Oude Schilt. When we had passed through it, we found ourselves near the dunes, over which we crossed to the beacon, walking upon the shore to the extreme point of the island, from whence we saw the Helder before us on the other side, and between, the two mouths of Texelsdiep,[51] observing how the lines agreed with the beacons. Time running on, we returned to the Hoorn, where we were compelled to drink once. The landlord of the house was a Papist, who quickly took us to be Roman ecclesiastics, at which we laughed between us for his so deceiving himself. He began to open his heart very freely, and would have told us all his secrets if we had asked him; but we cut off the conversation, and answered his questions with civility. When we reached home in the evening, we saw some ships had arrived, and supposed certainly one of them was ours; but, as it was dark, we were compelled to wait till next morning.
21st, Wednesday. As soon as we had taken a little breakfast we went along the dyke to Oosterent, near which the ships had come to anchor. As we approached the place, we could no longer doubt ours was there, which we were the first to discover. We therefore hired a boat immediately and went on board, when we not only found it was our ship, but that she was full and overladen. She was so full of passengers of all kinds, and so stowed, that we saw no chance of finding a place in which to sleep, and there were scarcely any of our goods to be found. The berth, which we had selected, had been taken by others, which there was no use of resisting; but it caused us no regret, as we thereby secured another near the cables, almost entirely out of the way, and always removed from the greatest noise. We determined to go ashore and come back the next day; but after taking our dinner there and paying our landlord, we returned on board. When we came on the ship, they began immediately to inquire of us about everything, and we answered them discreetly and civilly. Among others who thus made themselves conspicuous, was Jan, whom we did not know, and whose deportment did not accord with what we had imagined of him; but we supposed he was one of the passengers, and one of the best, and most slovenly. He asked my comrade if we were not of such a people, expressly naming them, who answered him according to his and our condition.[52] After we had been on board some time, seeing we obtained no place, I went myself to look after one and observed where we could make a berth. I spoke to the captain, who had the chests removed and a berth arranged for us on the larboard side near the forehatch; but as the cable was lying there so that it could not be stretched out as long as it ought, and as there was room enough, I took a little old rope and set to work to lengthen it out, which I accomplished before evening, so that we could sleep there that night. Certainly we had reason to thank the Lord that He had given us a berth in a more quiet place than we ourselves had chosen, which He had of His will allowed to be taken from us. His providence truly extends over all things and His foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men, and sometimes even of His children.
22d, Thursday. We slept little during the night in consequence of the clatter of so many godless and detestable men, and the noise of children and others. We had, however, to content ourselves. I went in search of our chest, which was stowed away in the bow, but to no purpose, as it was necessary to creep on hands and knees to get in there. We remained in the hope it would come to light at Faelmuyen.[53] The ship was so low between decks, that sitting on the chest we could not sit upright even between the beams, for it was only about three feet high. But we were here in the forecastle well content.
23d, Friday. My comrade wrote a letter home. Our captain having caused the boat to be made ready in order to go with his wife to another English ship, we requested permission to accompany him ashore. He roundly refused us; and we had to wait for a boat to pass and hail it, which we did. Having posted the letter on shore, and refreshed ourselves somewhat, we started to go on board again. We found our boat, when our captain and the captain of the English ship came up. Our skipper asked us if we would accompany them, to whom we civilly replied, and so went on board with them in the evening. The sailors had caught some plaice which were for the guests in the cabin. I assisted in cleaning them.
24th, Saturday. The wind was southeast, the same as yesterday, which made us all very anxious for Margaret to arrive, so that we might not miss a good wind. Jan and some others of the passengers were much dissatisfied, and said: "We know very well where she is. She is in Friesland." Upon this Jan declared, "if this wind blows over our heads, I will write her a letter which will make her ears tingle," and used many other rude expressions. He was one of the greatest of grumblers, and even against her. He revealed himself more freely in a conversation with my companion, from which we could clearly discover that he was of the feelings of Bohéém,[54] though he denied he had ever read his books. He also expressed himself profanely and in very foul language, worse than the foulest sailor or dock-loper would have done. The wind changed towards evening, and thus this day passed with murmuring, and we doubted no longer that this was Master John.
25th, Sunday. It blew very hard from the west so that we had to lower the topmasts and let drop the sheet anchor. We saw at daylight a yacht coming down to us before the wind and were rejoiced to find that Margaret was on board, with some other females. The yacht not coming well up, our captain sent a boat to her, but they could not reach her on account of the current. However, the yacht succeeded in coming along side of us, and Margaret came on board with her little daughter, and a Westphalian woman, who was a widow, and a girl, both of whom were in her service, and to go as passengers. They were welcomed by all, and all of them came and shook us by the hand. Some said they thought she had been to Friesland. Whereupon she answered: "How do you know where I have been?"[55] We had nothing to detain us now, except the wind.
26th, Monday. The wind began to blow a little from the south, but calmly. It veered round more and more to the southeast so that we determined to get under sail. We therefore took a pilot, weighed anchor, and set sail about ten or eleven o'clock. We sailed smoothly onward to the Helder. The pilot had a brother who was older, and had been a pilot longer than he had, and who sailed ahead of us in the pilot boat, continually sounding the depth of water with the deep lead. When we were going by the Oude Schilt there came a barge off with two more women who desired to go with us; but as they could not reach the ship, the pilot boat went after them and took them on board of her, where they had to remain until the ship arrived outside. It was about two o'clock when we came in the channel of the Lant's-diep or Nieuwe Diep.[56] You run from Oude Schilt strait to the Helder, and so close to the shore that you can throw a stone upon it, until you have the capes on this point opposite each other, namely, the two small ones; for to the westward of these there is a large one which is not to be regarded. Having the capes thus opposite each other, you are in the middle of the channel and by the first buoy. The current runs outside along the shore, east and west, to wit: the ebb tide westerly, and the flood easterly, and also very strong. The ebb runs until it is half flood. There are still two other channels, the old one which is the middle one, and the Spanish Channel stretching to the east. We had reached the middlemost buoy when it became entirely calm, for which reason we could hardly steer the ship, and, in the meanwhile, the current was steadily setting us over to the west bank. Hereupon a dispute arose between the pilot in our ship and those in the pilot boat going ahead of us. The one in the ship on throwing the lead and finding it begin to be shallow, and seeing, moreover, that the current was driving us more upon the shoal, was of opinion that we should wear ship, which his brother was not willing to do, saying that she should stand over further. This continued so long that at last it became entirely dry, when he wished to tack about; but it could not then be done in consequence of the current running with so much force upon shallow ground, and carrying the ship violently against the shoal, where the current ran obliquely. They got out the boat at the bow of the ship to row, which would not yield in consequence of the strong current which also drove the boat as well as the ship; so that, in a word, we were aground on the west bank of the channel, and although the water was nearly at its lowest there was still a strong ebb tide. Immediately there was great clamor and running to and fro both of seamen and those not acquainted with navigation. Every one was alarmed, and every one did his best in that respect, the more so, because there was not far from us the wreck of a ship with her masts sticking out of water, though it was on the east side of the channel. Nevertheless, we remained fast, and the ship began to thump hard and fall entirely on one side. They ran straightway to the pumps, but found no leak. The pilot remained in good spirits, though put out and angry with his brother, who had misled us, and who, in consequence of the strength of the current, and the lightness of the wind, could not come on board of us. They said we were in no danger, although it looked very strange, as the current had washed the sand very much from under the lee of the ship whereby she had fallen much on her side. But we hoped with the flood tide she would come off again.
There were several passengers, not only women, but men, and some of the bravest, who began to secure the best they had, and were ready and looking out how they might safely reach the land. But the Lord possessed us with His grace. Though seeing all this and knowing the danger, I was not disturbed by it. Margaret proposed throwing some of the cargo overboard, but the pilot and I dissuaded her from it. The captain wished to start the tanks of fresh water, but we hindered him. Of all the men in the ship I saw no one who was so frightened as Jan. He ran backwards and forwards and hardly knew what he said or did. This happened about half past three o'clock in the afternoon, and as we had not yet taken any dinner, and could effect nothing as long as the ship was fast, the victuals were brought out to be eaten. We sat before the hut and ate; but we had not finished when I perceived the ship dragging, as had been predicted. I sprang up quickly and cried out: "We are afloat; the ship's afloat." Immediately thereupon the whole ship was in commotion. The victuals were removed, the boat put to the bow, and every one did his best, rowing as well as he could. The ship, floating more and more, gave some good pushes and was brought into four fathoms of water, in the middle of the channel, and there anchored. My companion and myself thanked God in our hearts, and all were very much rejoiced. But no sooner was the danger over, which had somewhat bridled the godlessness of these bad men, than they returned to their old courses, with cursing and foul language. They were not affected in the least by what had happened, nor by God's gracious preservation of us. Truly was His hand visible, for it remained perfectly calm, so the ship labored very little. It would otherwise have been all over with us, for our ship not being the strongest, and being moreover very heavily laden, if the wind had changed to the east and forced us on a lee shore, she would have soon gone to pieces; or if we had grounded on the opposite side, which might easily have happened, there would have been little probability of her getting off, because the flood tide would have driven us higher up, especially if it had blown somewhat hard. The flood having run in and a light breeze springing out of the S.E. and S.S.E., the anchor was raised and in a short time we came outside, having been there about six hours. The pilot was paid, and he left the ship; the women whom he had taken in his boat were put on board and we bade him adieu, and set our course.