Young Lion of the Woods / Or, A Story of Early Colonial Days

by Thomas Barlow Smith

The "Adamante" arrived in England after a rough and stormy passage of forty-eight days. Captain Godfrey and family suffered severe hardships on the run over the Western Ocean. Owing to his exhausted funds, Captain G. was unable to provide his family the conveniences and comforts which would have rendered the voyage home more agreeable than under the circumstances it proved itself to be. As it was they suffered severely. They had no bedding, and found their beaver skins a great luxury to sleep on. The few pounds that the sale of the sloop brought him were all expended during his long stay at Halifax while he was waiting for an opportunity to sail for England.

Margaret Godfrey was as high spirited as she was brave, and would not condescend to seek assistance from their friends in Halifax. If assistance was not gratuitously bestowed, she was the last woman in the world to beg. The family were well cared for while in the capital of the province (or to put it in Mrs. Godfrey's words) "as well as people generally are who have honestly lost their all. Our real wants were not known to the middle and lower classes, and that other class was not heartily concerned about our future. Governor Campbell, all honor to his name, secured and paid our passages."

The cabin of the "Adamante" was below deck, it was dark, dingy and dirty. The bows of the vessel resembled the side of a tub, and the stern the end of a puncheon cut through the centre lengthways. A passage across the stormy ocean in the "Adamante" in the winter of 1771-2, in comparison to one in an ocean greyhound of 1889, would be much the same as the difference between a ride in an ox-cart and one in a palace car, both for comfort and speed.

A terrific storm was experienced off the west coast of Ireland, in which the foretopgallant mast and jibboom were carried away. The water-casks and caboose were washed overboard, and the cook carried into the forward shrouds feet foremost, where he hung like a fish in a net. With this exception, no accident occurred during the passage.

Shortly after Captain Godfrey arrived in London, he called on the Earl of Hillsborough and made known to that gentleman his great misfortune, and also delivered to His Lordship the letter of recommendation which Lord William Campbell had been pleased to give him. After the Earl of Hillsborough had carefully perused the letter and examined into Captain Godfrey's affairs, His Lordship was most generously pleased to present him with twenty guineas out of his private purse for present relief, until His Lordship could more essentially serve him.

Not long afterward Captain Godfrey's case was laid before the Right Honourable the Lords of Trade. The Earl of Hillsborough was again pleased to grant him fifty guineas from his private purse for a temporary support, with the assurance of providing for his further support till his case was settled.

Upon Lord Hillsborough's resignation as first Lord of Trade and Plantations, his Lordship was pleased to recommend Captain Godfrey's case to the Earl of Dartmouth, who succeeded His Lordship in office.

The case, with all the original papers and certificates, was laid before the Earl of Dartmouth and the Right Honorable the Lords of Trade and Plantations. A commission was appointed by Parliament and several Lords sat on it, but nothing definite was arranged. Captain Godfrey remained for the greater part of the time in England and sometimes in Ireland, all the time seeking relief from Lords many until the year 1773. All this time he was in great difficulty and distress through his losses in the Colony. Fortunately for himself and his family, he was left a legacy in 1773 amounting to a considerable sum, which enabled him a second time to try his luck in Nova Scotia. He expended a large sum of money in purchasing goods suitable for the colonial trade, and embarked with the goods and his wife and family in 1774, and once again settled on his estate at Grimross.

His former misfortune did not discourage him; he was full of hope for the future. He left his case in the hands of his fellow-countrymen. What a pity he did not induce some of these English Lords to accompany him and spend a winter with him in the wilds of Nova Scotia. It is quite possible had he been able to prevail upon them to do so, that they would have returned home in the early spring and strongly advised the Lords of Trade and Plantations to at once settle the case of Captain Godfrey by reimbursing him for his losses.

The boast of England is her colonies, yet the statesmen of Britain at that time knew little, and, in all probability, cared less, about the hardships, dangers and perils which their countrymen were enduring while laying the foundations of a Greater Britain.