AD. THE ENGLISH VOYAGES 



1592. 



any sort be bettered : which plat hee and the Master so 

 often perused, and so carefully regarded, as that in 

 memorie they had every turning and creeke, and in the 

 deepe darke night without any doubting they conveyed 

 the ship through that crooked chanell : so that I conclude, 

 the world hath not any so skilful! pilots for that place, as 

 they are : for otherwise wee could never have passed in 

 such sort as we did. 



The 25 wee came to an Island in the Streights named 

 Penguin-isle, whither wee sent our boate to seeke reliefe, 

 for there were great abundance of birds, and the weather 

 was very calme ; so wee came to an ankor by the Island 

 in seven fadomes. While our boate was at shore, and 

 we had great store of Penguins, there arose a sudden 

 storme, so that our ship did drive over a breach and our 

 boate sanke at the shore. Captaine Cotton and the 

 Lieutenant being on shore leapt in the boate, and freed 

 the same, and threw away all the birdes, and with great 

 difficultie recovered the ship : my selfe also was in the 

 boate the same time, where for my life I laboured to the 

 best of my power. The ship all this while driving upon 

 the lee-shore, when wee came aboord, we helped to set 

 sayle, and weighed the ankor; for before our comming 

 they could scarse hoise up their yardes, yet with much 

 adoe they set their fore-coarse. Thus in a mighty fret 

 of weather the seven and twentieth day of October wee 

 were free of the Streights, and the thirtieth of October we 

 Penguin-isle came to Penguin-isle being three leagues from Port Desire, 

 withtn three ^^ place which wee purposed to seeke for our reliefe. 

 D^ffn.^... When wee were come to this Isle wee sent our 



boate on shore, which returned laden with birdes and 

 egges ; and our men sayd that the Penguins were so 

 thicke upon the Isle, that shippes might be laden with 

 them ; for they could not goe without treading upon 

 the birds, whereat we greatly rejoiced. Then the cap- 

 taine appointed Charles Parker and Edward Smith, with 

 twenty others to go on shore, and to stay upon the Isle, 

 for the killing and drying of those Penguins, and promised 



408 



Port Desire. 



