266 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



ice. The bark Denis, being pretty well bruised and battered, 

 became "so leaky that she would no longer tarry above the 

 water, and sank; which sight so abashed the whole fleet, that 

 we thought verily we should have tasted the same sauce." Boats 

 were, however, manned, and the drowning crew were saved. The 

 storm increased, and the ice pressed more and more upon them, 

 so that they took down their topmasts. They cut their cables 

 to hang overboard for fenders, " somewhat to ease the ships' 

 sides from the great and dreary strokes of the ice. Thus we 

 continued all that dismal and lamentable night, plunged in this 

 perplexity, looking for instant death ; but our God, who never 

 leaveth them destitute which faithfully call upon him, although 

 he often punisheth for amendment sake, in the morning caused 

 the wind to cease and the fog to clear. Thus, after punishment, 

 consolation ; and we, joyful wights, being at liberty, hoisted our 

 sails and lay beating off and on." 



At last, at the close of July, such of the vessels as had not 

 been separated from Frobisher's ship entered the Countess of 

 Warwick's Sound, and commenced the work of mining and 

 lading. The miners were from time to time molested by the 

 natives, but lost no lives. They put on board of their several 

 ships five hundred tons of ore, and, on the 1st of September, 

 sailed with their precious freight to England, where they arrived 

 in thirty days. The ore turned out to be utterly valueless, — a 

 result so mortifying that it disgusted the English for many years 

 with mining enterprises and with voyages of discovery. We 

 shall hear of Frobisher again, in connection with Francis Drake, 

 and in the conflict with the Spanish Armada. 



The engraving upon the opposite page, which is copied from 

 an original of the period, represents a portion of the royal fleet 

 of England in the time of Henry VIII. The king is embarking 

 at Dover previous to meeting Francis of France at the Field of 

 the Cloth of Gold. This pageantry at sea was a fitting prelude 

 to the festivities which followed upon the land. 



