Part 6 (1/2)
_Made to the West and North-West Regions in the year 1577_, _with a Description of the Country and People_, _written by Dionise Settle_.
On Whit Sunday, being the sixth-and-twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord G.o.d 1577, Captain Frobisher departed from Blackwall--with one of the Queen's Majesty's s.h.i.+ps called the _Aid_, of nine score ton or thereabout, and two other little barques likewise, the one called the _Gabriel_, whereof Master Fenton, a gentleman of my Lord of Warwick's, was captain; and the other the _Michael_, whereof Master York, a gentleman of my lord admiral's, was captain, accompanied with seven score gentlemen, soldiers, and sailors, well furnished with victuals and other provisions necessary for one half year--on this, his second year, for the further discovering of the pa.s.sage to Cathay and other countries thereunto adjacent, by west and north-west navigations, which pa.s.sage or way is supposed to be on the north and north-west parts of America, and the said America to be an island environed with the sea, where through our merchants might have course and recourse with their merchandise from these our northernmost parts of Europe, to those Oriental coasts of Asia in much shorter time and with greater benefit than any others, to their no little commodity and profit that do or shall traffic the same. Our said captain and general of this present voyage and company, having the year before, with two little pinnaces to his great danger, and no small commendations, given a worthy attempt towards the performance thereof, is also pressed when occasion shall be ministered to the benefit of his prince and native country--to adventure himself further therein. As for this second voyage, it seemeth sufficient that he hath better explored and searched the commodities of those people and countries, with sufficient commodity unto the adventurers, which, in his first voyage the year before, he had found out.
Upon which considerations the day and year before expressed, he departed from Blackwall to Harwich, where making an accomplishment of things necessary, the last of May we hoisted up sails, and with a merry wind the 7th of June we arrived at the islands called Orchades, or vulgarly Orkney, being in number thirty, subject and adjacent to Scotland, where we made provision of fresh water, in the doing whereof our general licensed the gentlemen and soldiers, for their recreation, to go on sh.o.r.e. At our landing the people fled from their poor cottages with shrieks and alarms, to warn their neighbours of enemies, but by gentle persuasions we reclaimed them to their houses. It seemeth they are often frighted with pirates, or some other enemies, that move them to such sudden fear. Their houses are very simply builded with pebble stone, without any chimneys, the fire being made in the midst thereof. The good man, wife, children, and other of their family, eat and sleep on the one side of the house, and their cattle on the other, very beastly and rudely in respect of civilisation. They are dest.i.tute of wood, their fire is turf and cow shardes. They have corn, bigge, and oats, with which they pay their king's rent to the maintenance of his house. They take great quant.i.ty of fish, which they dry in the wind and sun; they dress their meat very filthily, and eat it without salt. Their apparel is after the nudest sort of Scotland. Their money is all base. Their Church and religion is reformed according to the Scots. The fishermen of England can better declare the dispositions of those people than I, wherefore I remit other their usages to their reports, as yearly repairers thither in their courses to and from Iceland for fish.
We departed here hence the 8th of June, and followed our course between west and north-west until the 4th of July, all which time we had no night, but that easily, and without any impediment, we had, when we were so disposed, the fruition of our books, and other pleasures to pa.s.s away the time, a thing of no small moment to such as wander in unknown seas and long navigations, especially when both the winds and raging surges do pa.s.s their common and wonted course. This benefit endureth in those parts not six weeks, whilst the sun is near the tropic of Cancer, but where the pole is raised to 70 or 80 degrees it continueth the longer.
All along these seas, after we were six days sailing from Orkney, we met, floating in the sea, great fir trees, which, as we judged, were, with the fury of great floods, rooted up, and so driven into the sea. Iceland hath almost no other wood nor fuel but such as they take up upon their coasts. It seemeth that these trees are driven from some part of the Newfoundland, with the current that setteth from the west to the east.
The 4th of July we came within the making of Friesland. From this sh.o.r.e, ten or twelve leagues, we met great islands of ice of half a mile, some more, some less in compa.s.s, showing above the sea thirty or forty fathoms, and as we supposed fast on ground, where, with our lead, we could scarce sound the bottom for depth.
Here, in place of odoriferous and fragrant smells of sweet gums and pleasant notes of musical birds, which other countries in more temperate zones do yield, we tasted the most boisterous Boreal blasts, mixed with snow and hail, in the months of June and July, nothing inferior to our untemperate winter: a sudden alteration, and especially in a place of parallel, where the pole is not elevated above 61 degrees, at which height other countries more to the north, yea unto 70 degrees, show themselves more temperate than this doth. All along this coast ice lieth as a continual bulwark, and so defendeth the country, that those which would land there incur great danger. Our general, three days together, attempted with the s.h.i.+p boat to have gone on sh.o.r.e, which, for that without great danger he could not accomplish, he deferred it until a more convenient time. All along the coast lie very high mountains, covered with snow, except in such places where, through the steepness of the mountains, of force it must needs fall. Four days coasting along this land we found no sign of habitation. Little birds which we judged to have lost the sh.o.r.e, by reason of thick fogs which that country is much subject unto, came flying to our s.h.i.+ps, which causeth us to suppose that the country is both more tolerable and also habitable within than the outward sh.o.r.e maketh show or signification.
From hence we departed the 8th of July, and the 16th of the same we came with the making of land, which land our general the year before had named the Queen's Forehand, being an island, as we judge, lying near the supposed continent with America, and on the other side, opposite to the same, one other island, called Halles Isle, after the name of the master of the s.h.i.+p, near adjacent to the firm land, supposed continent with Asia. Between the which two islands there is a large entrance or strait, called Frobisher's Strait, after the name of our general, the first finder thereof. This said strait is supposed to have pa.s.sage into the sea of Sur, which I leave unknown as yet.
It seemeth that either here, or not far hence, the sea should have more large entrance than in other parts within the frozen or untemperate zone, and that some contrary tide, either from the east or west, with main force casteth out that great quant.i.ty of ice which cometh floating from this coast, even unto Friesland, causing that country to seem more untemperate than others much more northerly than the same.
I cannot judge that any temperature under the Pole, being the time of the Sun's northern declination, half a year together, and one whole day (considering that the sun's elevation surmounteth not twenty-three degrees and thirty minutes), can have power to dissolve such monstrous and huge ice, comparable to great mountains, except by some other force, as by swift currents and tides, with the help of the said day of half a year.
Before we came within the making of these lands, we tasted cold storms, insomuch that it seemed we had changed with winter, if the length of the days had not removed us from that opinion.
At our first coming, the straits seemed to be shut up with a long mure of ice, which gave no little cause of discomfort unto us all; but our general (to whose diligence, imminent dangers and difficult attempts seemed nothing in respect of his willing mind for the commodity of his prince and country), with two little pinnaces prepared of purpose, pa.s.sed twice through them to the east sh.o.r.e, and the islands thereunto adjacent; and the s.h.i.+p, with the two barques, lay off and on something farther into the sea from the danger of the ice.
Whilst he was searching the country near the sh.o.r.e, some of the people of the country showed themselves, leaping and dancing, with strange shrieks and cries, which gave no little admiration to our men. Our general, desirous to allure them unto him by fair means, caused knives and other things to be proffered unto them, which they would not take at our hands; but being laid on the ground, and the party going away, they came and took up, leaving something of theirs to countervail the same. At the length, two them, leaving their weapons, came down to our general and master, who did the like to them, commanding the company to stay, and went unto them, who, after certain dumb signs and mute congratulations, began to lay hands upon them, but they deliverly escaped, and ran to their bows and arrows and came fiercely upon them, not respecting the rest of our company, which were ready for their defence, but with their arrows hurt divers of them. We took the one, and the other escaped.
Whilst our general was busied in searching the country, and those islands adjacent on the east sh.o.r.e, the s.h.i.+ps and barques, having great care not to put far into the sea from him, for that he had small store of victuals, were forced to abide in a cruel tempest, chancing in the night amongst and in the thickest of the ice, which was so monstrous that even the least of a thousand had been of force sufficient to have s.h.i.+vered our s.h.i.+p and barques into small portions, if G.o.d (who in all necessities hath care upon the infirmity of man) had not provided for this our extremity a sufficient remedy, through the light of the night, whereby we might well discern to flee from such imminent dangers, which we avoided within fourteen bourdes in one watch, the s.p.a.ce of four hours. If we had not incurred this danger amongst these monstrous islands of ice, we should have lost our general and master, and the most of our best sailors, which were on the sh.o.r.e dest.i.tute of victuals; but by the valour of our master gunner, Master Jackman and Andrew Dier, the master's mates, men expert both in navigation and other good qualities, we were all content to incur the dangers afore rehea.r.s.ed, before we would, with our own safety, run into the seas, to the destruction of our said general and his company.
The day following, being the 19th of July, our captain returned to the s.h.i.+p with good news of great riches, which showed itself in the bowels of those barren mountains, wherewith we were all satisfied. A sudden mutation. The one part of us being almost swallowed up the night before, with cruel Neptune's force, and the rest on sh.o.r.e, taking thought for their greedy paunches how to find the way to Newfoundland; at one moment we were racked with joy, forgetting both where we were and what we had suffered. Behold the glory of man: to-night contemning riches, and rather looking for death than otherwise, and to-morrow devising how to satisfy his greedy appet.i.te with gold.
Within four days after we had been at the entrance of the straits, the north-west and west winds dispersed the ice into the sea, and made us a large entrance into the Straits, that without impediment, on the 19th July, we entered them; and the 20th thereof our general and master, with great diligence, sought out and sounded the west sh.o.r.e, and found out a fair harbour for the s.h.i.+p and barques to ride in, and named it after our master's mate, Jackman's Sound, and brought the s.h.i.+p, barques, and all their company to safe anchor, except one man which died by G.o.d's visitation.
At our first arrival, after the s.h.i.+p rode at anchor, general, with such company as could well be spared from the s.h.i.+ps, in marching order entered the land, having special care by exhortations that at our entrance thereinto we should all with one voice, kneeling upon our knees, chiefly thank G.o.d for our safe arrival; secondly, beseech Him that it would please His Divine Majesty long to continue our Queen, for whom he, and all the rest of our company, in this order took possession of the country; and thirdly, that by our Christian study and endeavour, those barbarous people, trained up in paganry and infidelity, might be reduced to the knowledge of true religion, and to the hope of salvation in Christ our Redeemer, with other words very apt to signify his willing mind and affection towards his prince and country, whereby all suspicion of an undutiful subject may credibly be judged to be utterly exempted from his mind. All the rest of the gentlemen, and others, deserve worthily herein their due praise and commendation.
These things in order accomplished, our general commanded all the company to be obedient in things needful for our own safeguard to Master Fenton, Master Yorke, and Master Beast, his lieutenant, while he was occupied in other necessary affairs concerning our coming thither.
After this order we marched through the country, with ensign displayed, so far as was thought needful, and now and then heaped up stones on high mountains and other places, in token of possession, as likewise to signify unto such as hereafter may chance to arrive there that possession is taken in the behalf of some other prince by those which first found out the country.
Whose maketh navigation to these countries hath not only extreme winds and furious seas to encounter withal, but also many monstrous and great islands of ice: a thing both rare, wonderful, and greatly to be regarded.
We were forced sundry times, while the s.h.i.+p did ride here at anchor, to have continual watch, with boats and men ready with hawsers, to knit fast unto such ice which with the ebb and flood were tossed to and fro in the harbour, and with force of oars to hail them away, for endangering the s.h.i.+p.
Our general certain days searched this supposed continent with America, and not finding the commodity to answer his expectations, after he had made trial thereof, he departed thence, with two little barques, and men sufficient, to the east sh.o.r.e, being he supposed continent of Asia, and left the s.h.i.+p, with most of the gentlemen soldiers and sailors, until such time as he either thought good to send or come for them.
The stones on this supposed continent with America be altogether sparkled and glister in the sun like gold; so likewise doth the sand in the bright water, yet they verify the old proverb, ”All is not gold that glistereth.”
On this west sh.o.r.e we found a dead fish floating, which had in his nose a horn, straight and torquet, of length two yards lacking two inches, being broken in the top, where we might perceive it hollow, into which some of our sailors putting spiders they presently died. I saw not the trial hereof, but it was reported unto me of a truth, by the virtue whereof we supposed it to be the sea unicorn.
After our general had found out good harbour for the s.h.i.+p and barques to anchor in, and also such store of gold ore as he thought himself satisfied withal, he returned to the _Michael_, whereof Master Yorke aforesaid was captain, accompanied with our master and his mate, who coasting along the west sh.o.r.e, not far from whence the s.h.i.+p rode, they perceived a fair harbour, and willing to sound the same, at the entrance thereof they espied two tents of seal skins, unto which the captain, our said master, and other company resorted. At the sight of our men the people fled into the mountains; nevertheless, they went to their tents, where, leaving certain trifles of ours as gla.s.ses, bells, knives, and such like things, they departed, not taking anything of theirs except one dog. They did in like manner leave behind them a letter, pen, ink, and paper, whereby our men whom the captain lost the year before, and in that people's custody, might (if any of them were alive) be advertised of our presence and being there.
On the same day, after consultation, all the gentlemen, and others likewise that could be spared from the s.h.i.+p, under the conduct and leading of Master Philpot (unto whom, in our general's absence, and his lieutenant, Master Beast, all the rest were obedient), went ash.o.r.e, determining to see if by fair means we could either allure them to familiarity, or otherwise take some of them, and so attain to some knowledge of those men whom our general lost the year before.
At our coming back again to the place where their tents were before, they had removed their tents farther into the said bay or sound, where they might, if they were driven from the land, flee with their boats into the sea. We, parting ourselves into two companies, and compa.s.sing a mountain, came suddenly upon them by land, who, espying us, without any tarrying fled to their boats, leaving the most part of their oars behind them for haste, and rowed down the bay, where our two pinnaces met them and drove them to sh.o.r.e. But if they had had all their oars, so swift are they in rowing, it had been lost time to have chased them.