His peractis, datum est negotium ei capitaneo qui nos ceperat, ut rediret in eam Novæ Franciæ partem [10] ubi nos spoliaverat, ibique quotquot reperiret naves francicas diriperet et omnes habitationes domosque incenderet. [9] Restabant enim ibi duæ Gallorum habitationes, una Sanctæ Crucis et altera Portus-regalis ubi per biennium manseram. Hanc in expeditionem tres naves instructæ sunt, duæ quas nobis ceperant, et tertia illa major et bellica, ut appellant, quæ nos ceperat. Ita accepti sumus in has naves octo solum Galli si qua forte opportunitas daretur emittendi nos in patriam. Hæ naves redierunt primum in eum locum ubi capti fueramus crucesque quas statueramus dejecerunt omnes. Sed ecce vindictam. Ibidem [10] antequam discederamus unum e suis suspenderunt quem machinatum esse nescio quid deprehenderant. Crux pro crucibus fuit.
After this episode, the captain who had taken us was commissioned to return to that part of New France where he had plundered us, and to plunder any French ships he might find, and burn all the houses and settlements. [9] There remained two French settlements there, that of Sainte Croix and that of Port Royal, where I had remained for two years. Three ships were equipped for this expedition,—two which they had taken from us, and a third and larger one, the man-of-war, as they call it, which had taken us. So eight of us Frenchmen were taken in this vessel, in view of any opportunity that might arise of sending us back to our own country. These vessels returned first to the place where we had been captured, and all the crosses that we had set up they overthrew. But not unavenged! On the same spot, [10] before our departure, they hanged one of their number whom they had apprehended in some plot. Thus one Cross took the place of many.
Hic quoque iterum nobis periculum. Volebant ire Angli, ut ante dictum est, ad habitationem Sanctæ Crucis, etsi in ea nulli tunc habitatores essent. Sed erat sal ibi relictum. Nemo præter me viam sciebat; atque ibi me aliquando fuisse Angli norant. Rogant igitur ut eos deducam. Ego qua possum tergiversari et evadere; sed [11] nihil proficio. Vident aperte me nolle. Hic nimirum incenditur capitaneus, et eram jam periculo propior; cum subito sine me ipsi locum reperiunt, diripiunt et incendunt. Quin etiam per eam occasionem sylvaticum quemdam comprehenderunt, cujus ductu ad Portum regalem perducti sunt. Quæ me res periculo majore cum exemerit, aliunde tamen induxit in majus. Namque direpto et [12] incenso Portu regali (quem nescio quo casu destitutum a suis repererunt) ecce nescio quis Gallus ex ipsis qui portum [12] illum regalem deseruerant, accusationem mittit adversum me; Me videlicet germanum ac naturalem Hispanum esse atque adeo ob scelera quædam in Gallia commissa, eo redire non audere. Hic capitaneus jam infensus, nimirum dato iracundiæ colore, proponit suis ecquid sentiant. Æquumne videatur me in littus ejicere ibique deserere? Valuit plurium opinio satius esse reducere me in Virginiam, atque ibi me infelici arbori, quam evaseram ex æquo et legibus, redonare. [13] Sic tunc evasi; sicque paulo post ad iter in Virginiam regressi sumus. Sed ecce biduo post tam sæva tempestas accidit, ut distractis navibus alii quid aliis acciderit nesciamus. Nostræ navis capitaneus postquam per tres ipse hebdomadas tempestatem sustinuit, jamque sibi plurima sed aquam maxime deesse vidit, nec esse spem Virginiæ diu repetendæ; consilium cepit refugiendi ad insulas portugalensium quas terceras appellant. Hoc capto consilio ego qui parato suspendio exemptus videbar rursum incido in majus discrimen ac vere majus, quandoquidem socios hic habebam discriminis. Angli sedecim cum ad insulas [14] illas appropinquarent cogitare cæperunt actum esse de se si nos sacerdotes et jesuitæ appareremus. Illico etenim a catholicis Lusitaniæ viris nos in libertatem vindicaremur. Ipsi contra veluti piratæ ac vexatores ecclesiasticorum pœnas darent. Angebat [14] eos hæc cura. Sed quid agerent? Nos ne darent in præceps? An occulere nos sufficeret? In hoc æstu et dubitatione vocat me capitaneus, remque proponit. Dico ei, mihi gravius malum non esse mortem quam esse aliis occasionem [15] mali. Si placeat ei nos occulere polliceor ei me latebras bona fide adjuturum. Quid immisit Deus in ejus mentem ut mihi crederet? Nescio certe; hoc scio quod si prævidisset pericula in quæ post incidit, non credidisset. Ergo occuluit nos in fundo navis: tribus hebdomadis solem non vidimus; sed ei tot difficultates in portu insulæ Faal inciderunt et toties visitata fuit trium hebdomadarum tempore navis, ut mirum sit quomodo non simus deprehensi. Sed hoc quoque providit Deus ad majorem laudam [sc. laudem] Societatis: manifeste namque Angli [16] ipsi viderunt quod si nos aperire ipsosque detegere voluissemus, in nostra id sæpe manu fuisset. Ipsi met postea sæpe ac coram ministris nostram fidem collaudarunt in Anglia ipsis admirantibus inimicis veritatis. His defuncti periculis, Angli constituerunt in Angliam redire potius quam in Virginiam quæ tanto distabat longius et ad quam repetendam deerant necessaria omnia. Ita in Angliam tetendimus. Longa fuit navigatio et varia: tandem caligine ac nubibus decepti recto [17] cursu decidimus inque Walliam non longe ab Hybernia delati sumus. In Wallia capitaneus noster cum ad urbem Pembrochium excendisset victus petendi causa ad certa quædam indicia velut pirata captus est ac detentus. Ille enim [16] vero ut se liberaret negat se piratam; argumentumque innocentiæ suæ profert Jesuitas duos quos in navi haberet, quosque si placeat accersere ex ipsis cognosci posse veritatem. O artificium divinæ Providentiæ! Erat tunc hyems adulta, et omnia in navi deerant. Ideoque nisi nobis provisum fuisset et frigore ac malis peribamus. Quid multa? [18] Extemplo accersuntur Jesuitæ et in urbem mirantibus omnibus deducuntur. Jubemur pro testimonio dicere. Nos enim vero quæ vera erant proferimus, capitaneum scilicet nostrum officiarium esse regium non piratam, et quæ in nos fecisset parendi necessitate magis quam voluntate fecisse: Ita capitaneus noster liberatus est et nos cum ipso in urbe usquedum Londino responsum acciperetur perhumaniter retenti sumus. Diu expectatum est responsum, at nos interea sæpe cum ministris sæpius cum aliis disputavimus: licebat enim fere [19] omnibus adire nos; etsi nobis exire domo non licebat. Verum cætera omnia humaniter ut dixi tribuebant. Pembrochio denique jubemur Londinum navigare. Sed iter fuit longum. Otiosissimæque intercesserunt moræ quas ne usque percenseam hoc sufficiat dicere, anglici regis jussu nos ab itinere abductos esse ad urbem Dueram atque inde Caletum in Galliam missos. Caleti liberaliter accepti sumus a domino Gubernatore et decano urbis ac per tres dies recreati; hinc venimus Ambianium ubi nunc sumus.
Here a new peril arose. The English, as I have previously stated, wished to go to the settlement of Sainte Croix, although it had at this time no inhabitants. Some salt, however, had been left there. No one except myself knew the way; and the English knew that I had been there formerly. They accordingly demand that I lead them. I do all I can to evade and refuse this proposal; but [11] it avails me nothing. They perceive clearly that I am unwilling to obey. At this the captain grows very angry, and my peril becomes imminent; when suddenly they find the place, without my help, and plunder and burn it. They, moreover, on this occasion captured a savage, who guided them to Port Royal. Although this had delivered me from one great danger, it nevertheless involved me in another greater one. For after they had plundered and burnt Port Royal (which by some inexplicable chance they had found abandoned by its inhabitants), some Frenchman, one of those very men who had deserted port [12] royal, brought an accusation against me, which was nothing less than this: that I was a genuine, native Spaniard; and that, on account of certain crimes committed in France, I dared not return there. Hereupon, the captain, already incensed against me, having found a fine pretext for his wrath, asked his followers whether they did not think it would be just to cast me forth on the shore and abandon me there. The opinion of the majority prevailed, who thought it better to take me back to Virginia, and there to return me to that unlucky tree which, in accordance with law and justice, I had escaped. [13] Thus I escaped death for the moment: and so we soon after started on our return voyage to Virginia. But, two days later, so fearful a tempest arose that the ships were separated, and none of us knew what became of the others. The captain of our ship, after he had endured the storm for three weeks, and had begun to run short of various necessaries, particularly of fresh water, concluding that there was no hope of getting back to Virginia for a long time, decided to run to the portuguese islands called terceras [Azores]. Through this decision I, who appeared to have escaped from the death by hanging that awaited me, again found myself in a greater peril; greater I may truly call it, since I had here companions in my danger. The sixteen Englishmen, on approaching [14] these islands, began to reflect that they were lost if we priests and jesuits appeared; for we would be set at liberty on the instant by these Portuguese catholics, and they, on the contrary, would be punished as pirates and persecutors of priests. This anxiety troubled them. But what were they to do? Should they throw us overboard, or would it suffice to conceal us? In this embarrassment and uncertainty, the captain sent for me, and laid the matter before me. I said to him that death itself was not a greater evil, in my estimation, than to be the occasion [15] of misfortune to others. I promised, in case he chose to conceal us, that I would lend myself to this scheme in good faith. With what idea did God inspire him, to make him believe me? I know not, truly; but this I do know—that, if he had foreseen the dangers into which he subsequently fell, he would not have trusted me. Accordingly he hid us in the hold of the vessel; during three weeks we did not behold the sun; but the captain encountered so many difficulties in the port of the island Faal, and the vessel was visited so frequently during this space of three weeks, that it seems marvelous that we escaped detection. But this also God purposed for the greater glory of the Society; for the English [16] clearly saw that if we had wished to show ourselves, and to expose them, it would frequently have been in our power to do so. They themselves afterwards, when in England, often eulogized our good faith in the presence of their ministers, and to the admiration even of the enemies of the truth. Escaping from these perils, our captors decided to return to England rather than to Virginia, which was so much farther distant, and which was to be reached only by a long voyage, for which they lacked all the necessaries. Accordingly we set sail for England. Our voyage was a long one, and was marked by many vicissitudes: finally, losing our bearings in the fog and the cloudy weather [17] we deviated from the right course and were carried to Wales, not far from Ireland. In Wales our captain, having landed near the town of Pembroke to lay in provisions, was seized and detained as a pirate, because of certain appearances pointing that way. He, however, to recover his liberty, denied being a pirate; and, as a proof of his innocence, he adduced the fact that he had in his vessel two Jesuits from whose own lips they could learn the truth, if they pleased to summon them. Oh skillful hand of divine Providence! Winter was then fully upon us, and in the ship we were in want of everything. Thus, had we not been provided for, we should have died of cold and hardships. But what need of a long story? [18] The Jesuits are at once summoned, and, gazed at by all, are led into the town. We are ordered to give our evidence. We, of course, attest what was perfectly true,—that our captain was a royal officer and not a pirate, and that what he had done to us had been done in obedience to orders, rather than from his own free will. Accordingly, our captain was set at liberty; and in company with him we were detained in the town, and very well used, while awaiting orders from London. These were long delayed; and in the interval we frequently engaged in arguments with the ministers, and more frequently still with others,—for nearly every one was permitted [19] to have access to us, although we were not allowed to go out. In every other respect, as I have said, we were very kindly treated. Finally we received orders to sail from Pembroke to London. But the voyage proved a long one. Protracted delays intervened; to avoid a long enumeration of these, let it suffice to say that by order of the english king we were landed at Dover, and thence sent to Calais in France. At Calais we were hospitably received by the Governor and the dean of the city, and rested three days; thence we came to Amiens, where we now are.
Tenuit nos captivitas nostra [20] per novem menses [18]et dimidium. Semper in navi, nisi cum, uti dixi, excendimus ad Pembrochium. Tres menses fuimus: cum nobis in die non darentur nisi circiter unciæ duæ panis et non multum salsi piscis et aqua fere semper fœtida; ideoque miramur quomodo in morbum non inciderimus. Quod pauci Anglorum evadere potuerunt, imo ejusdem etiam aliquot mortui sunt. Sed nimirum Deus nos custodivit placatus Vestræ Paternitatis ac totius Societatis precibus; faxit ipse pro sua bonitate ut id cedat ad majorem ipsius gloriam emendationemque morum meorum ac salutem. Hoc spero per preces ac [21] benedictionem Vestræ Paternitatis quam humillime et quanto affectu possum nixus genibus flagito. Dm̑us [Dominus] Jesus Vestram Paternitatem custodiat semper et Sanctissimis suis gratiis augeat, Pater optime et suavissime.
Vestræ Paternitatis
filius obediens ac servus indignus
Petrus BIARD
Ambiani, 26 Maii, 1614.
We remained in captivity [20] during nine months and a half. We were in the ship all the time, except when we landed at Pembroke, as related. There were three months during which we daily received only about two ounces of bread, and a small quantity of salt fish, with water that was nearly always fetid; so that we marvel at not having fallen sick. Few of the English escaped illness, and some of them even died as the result. But God doubtless watched over us in answer to the prayers of Your Paternity and of all our Society; may he grant in his goodness that it result to his own greater glory and in my salvation and better life. This I hope for, through the prayers and [21] the blessing of Your Paternity, which, with all possible humility and affection, I solicit on my knees. May the Lord Jesus ever watch over Your Paternity and may our Father with utmost goodness and favor increasingly bestow upon you his Most Holy grace.
Your Paternity's
obedient son and unworthy servant,