HENRY MAY a.d. 



1594. 



their negligence a number of good men were cast away : 

 and I being but a stranger among 50 and odde French- 

 men & others, it pleased God to appoint me to be one of 

 them that were saved, I hope to his service &: glory. 

 We made account at the first that we were cast away hard 

 by the shore, being hie clifs, but we found our selves seven 

 leagues off: but with our boat and a raft which we had 

 made & towed at our boats sterne, we were saved some 26 

 of us ; among whom were no more English but my selfe. 

 Now being among so many strangers, & seeing not 

 roome for the one halfe, I durst neither presse into the 

 boat, nor upon the raft, for feare lest they should have 

 cast me over boord, or els have killed me : so I stayed 

 in the ship which was almost full of water, untill the 

 captaine being entred the boat, called me unto him being 

 at hand, for that it stood upon life or death : and so I 

 presently entred, leaving the better halfe of our company 

 to the mercy of the sea. After this we rowed all the day [III. 574.] 

 until an houre or two before night yer we could come on 

 land, towing the raft with the boat. When we came T^h^ descrip- 

 on shore, being all the day without drinke, every man ^^<^j^rf the tsle 

 tooke his way to see if he could finde any : but it was 

 long before any was found. At length one of the 

 pilots digging among a company of weeds found fresh 

 water to all our great comforts, being only raine water : 

 and this was all the fresh water that we found on shore. 

 But there are in this Island many fine bayes, wherin if 

 a man did dig, I thinke there might be found store of 

 fresh water. This Island is divided all into broken 

 Islands ; and the greatest part I was upon, which might 

 be some 4 or 5 miles long, and two miles & a halfe 

 over ; being all woods, as Cedar & other timber, but 

 Cedar is the chiefest. Now it pleased God before our T^he saving of 



ship did split, that we saved our carpenters tooles, or ^he carpenters 

 , ^T 1 • 1 1 J 1 .1 ^1 • J J 1 • tooles was their 



els 1 thinke we had bene there to this day : and having pj-^servation 



recovered the aforesaid tooles, we went roundly about the j bark 



cutting downe of trees, & in the end built a small strangely built 



barke of some 1 8 tun, for the most part with tronnels and ^ f^^^'^^^^d. 



201 



