714 A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



whole place had once againe bin utterly and quite left voide of her 

 reasonable inhabitants : and with out all question, this ill had not 

 fay led to have befallen, had not God (who noe doubt hath an 

 especiall worck in the peopling of thes partes with Christians), by 

 his owne hand, in great mere} 7 , swept them all away in an instant, 

 when it was least expected ; for not long after that the Governour 

 (having thus received this loathed report of this ratt-warre in 

 Somersett, and being at his non-plus of newe devises to helpe him- 

 selfe), had determined once againe to fall upon another generall 

 burneinge of the whole ilands, to the extreame discontent of all men, 

 and especially of Mr. Lewes [Hughes] the minister, who openly 

 preached against it, so that the Governour could never endure him 

 afterwards ; behold by a soudaine fall of a great store of raine, and 

 some cold northerly windes bloweinge with all, in a moment, and 

 when noe man durst so much as hope for so happy a turne, thes 

 mightie armies of ravenous ratts are clean taken awaye, vanish, 

 and are scarce one to be found in a share ; but in steed of 

 them, shortly after, come in marchinge towards the houses, whole 

 troupes of great and fatte wild catts, who havienge formerly found 

 foode ynough upon these vermin abroad, and so become wild and 

 savage, are now againe in this their necessitie, and by want of wonted 

 reliefe, forced to returne to their first tamenesse." 



The Rev. Mr. Hughes, who was present during part of the time, 

 gave the following account : 



"Let not the hand of God, which lay heavy upon you in Captain 

 Tucker's time [1616-18], be forgotten, when the rats did abound, 

 and goe by sea from Hand to Hand, so as no Hand was free, but all 

 were like so many Coney-warrens : I say they went by sea from 

 Hand to Hand, because fishes have at divei-s times been taken three 

 leagues off at sea, with Rats in their mawes, which sheweth plainly 

 that the Rats did swim, and were snapt up of the Fishes. Consider 

 what a plague of God they were unto you both within dores and 

 without : within they devoured your Corne and other provision of 

 foode, and your cloathes and shooes (as myselfe has good cause 

 to remember :) Avithout, they devoured your corne by scraping it out 

 of the ground, when it was new set, the grains which were thrust in 

 so deepe as they could not scrape [rotted], untill God in mercy hear- 

 ing our poore prayers, tooke them away, on the sodaine in three or 

 foure dayes. I mention the time, because I took good notice of it. 

 As soon as the Rats were destroyed wild Cats, that were neither 

 scene nor knowne to be in any such abundance, came marching out 



