24th, Wednesday. The wind and our course continued the same; but it is to be observed, the compass here is a point and a half northwesting. We spoke an English ship bound to Virginia. We found our latitude [42°] 40´ north, and the distance we had sailed 96 miles.
25th, Thursday. The wind became more southerly, but we held our course the same as before, or east by south. Latitude 42° 68´. Distance reckoned to be 136 miles. The English ship which had remained in company until now, left us. It began to blow so hard in the evening that we had to reef the topsails and take in the mainsail, and proceed with the mizzen-sail and foresail.
26th, Friday. The wind was due south, although it had been a little more westerly during the night. We observed the latitude 42° 51´; reckoned the distance run 96 miles.
We had stipulated, when we engaged our passage, to eat in the cabin, but when we got to sea we did not do so. There were ten passengers besides us two, and among them two females. These ten had jointly bought a large quantity of provisions and groceries, and placed them in the cabin, they having such power over the captain. We were therefore compelled to remain outside, although we remonstrated. We saw afterwards that it was the Lord's doings, who would not that we should be in nearer communion with such wicked persons. We then arranged to eat with the mate and another passenger above on the half deck. We four brought together what provisions we had, and were well satisfied with each other. We had to-day a good topsail breeze and fine weather.
27th, Saturday. It was rainy during the night; and although our bunk was in the gunner's room, it leaked in there very much. At sunrise it cleared up a little. We could not obtain any observation, but supposed the latitude was 43°. The course was east-southeast, the distance run 100 miles. As it was Saturday evening a hog was killed, there being seven or eight on board the ship.
28th, Sunday. The weather was fine, with a westerly wind, but not an entirely clear atmosphere.
Among the passengers in the cabin was a minister, an Independent, who had formerly been in the East Indies, at Bantam on the island of Java. He had been visiting his friends in New England, but undoubtedly could not obtain any situation among them, and was returning to England in order to sail if he could in the first ships back to the Indies. This poor minister, every morning and evening, made a prayer, read some chapters out of the Old and New Testaments, and sang a psalm, all after the manner of the Independents. On Sundays he preached both in the morning and afternoon, and we attended in order to avoid scandal and dissipate as much as possible the breath of calumny.
We could not obtain any altitude to-day, in consequence of the haze. Our course had been almost the whole night southeast by east and the course was therefore east by south; the distance was upwards of eighty miles. At noon it became calm, afterwards rainy, and in the evening the wind changed to the northwest, but continued still....[440]
[August, 1680] 17th, Saturday. I slept very little last night in consequence of the noise. We had sailed during the night a little to the east, because our captain was afraid of falling on the island of Bus,[441] as he was not much west of it, though according to our reckoning he was to the east of it. We found our latitude was 57° 30´, and therefore hoped to pass Bus and the rock Rockol.[442] We sailed on several courses, but the one maintained was northeast by north. The distance sailed was 100 miles....
18th, Sunday. We took an observation. Latitude 58° 30´. It was very cold here and the days long. The wind continued northeast and north-northeast, with hard weather, which caused us to take in our sails, and about ten o'clock in the evening to tack about. I remained on deck myself, in order to keep a lookout for the great rock Rockol.