A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 535 



and cut down her shrouds, and so we tackled our barke, and rigged 

 her. In stead of pitch we made lime, and mixed it with the oyl of 

 tortoises, and as soone as the carpenters had calked, I and another, 

 with ech of us a small sticke in our hands, did plaister the mortar 

 into the seames, and being in April when it was warm and faire 

 weather, we could no sooner lay it on, but it was dry, and as hard as 

 a stone. In this moneth of April, 1594, the weather being very hot, 

 we were af rayed our water should fayle us ; and therefore made the 

 more haste away ; and at our departure we were constrayned to make 

 two great chests and calked them, and stowed them on ech side of our 

 mainmaste, and so put in our provision of raine water and thirteen 

 live tortoises for our food, for our voyage which we intended to 

 Newfoundland." 



May in his narrative, states that when they went ashore in the 

 night, they supposed they were on the shore of the island, because 

 of the " hie cliffs," but in the morning they found that they were 

 seven leagues away from it. He also says that after building a raft 

 they towed this ashore "astern of their boat," and that "we rowed 

 all the day until an hour or two before night yer we could come on 

 land." 



Historians and others have been misled by this statement and have 

 even imagined that they must have been wrecked on some far more 

 distant island which has since been worn away or submerged ; or else 

 that there was more land near the North Rocks. (See Lefroy, 

 Memorials, i, p. 9.) But it is evident that May meant that it w r as 

 seven leagues as they had to row, for they could not cross the reefs 

 at that point, in the surf, and must have rowed along outside of 

 the reef till they reached the present ship-channel and there entered 

 the bay and landed, probably on St. George's Island. This would 

 have caused them to row about seven leagues and would doubtless 

 have taken all day with the boat heavily laden and towing a raft 

 astern. 



On the Norwood map published in 1626,* in the two lower corners 



* This map was made by a very competent surveyor, Eichard Norwood, who 

 resided here many years. His first survey was made between 1615 and 1622. 

 His completed map, dated 1622, and engraved in Amsterdam, was published and 

 for sale in London in 1626 ; and this seems to be the best edition of it, for the 

 outlines are engraved clearly and with care. Two other editions were published 

 about the same tune. 



He subsequently made another map, finished in 1663, on which every lot of 

 land was located and numbered. (See Lefroy, Memorials, ii, p. 645, reprint of 

 map.) He died in Bermuda, Oct., 1675, aged 84 years. Some of his descend- 

 ants still reside there. 



