Chap. I. and wintering in 
an Hour then taking the Beef out, he boiled the reft to 
half the Quantity j and this we called Pottage, which we 
eat with Bread as hot as v/e could, and after this we 
liad our Ordinary of Filh. Sunday, for Dinner we had 
Pork and Peafe, and at Night the former boiled Beef 
made more Pottage. In this Manner our Puefdaf s Beef 
was boiled on the Monday Nights, and the Phurfdafs 
upon JVednefdays and thus all the Week, except Friday 
Night, we had fomething warm in our Bellies every 
Supper ; and furely this did us a great deal of Good : 
But foon after Chrifimas many of us fell fick, and had 
fore Mouths, and could neither eat Beef, Pork, Fifh, nor 
Pottage. Their Diet was only this ; they would pound 
Bread in a Mortar to Meal, then fry it in a Frying-pan 
with a little Oil, and fo eat it. Some would boil Peafe 
to a foft Pafte, and feed, as well as they could, upon 
that ; for the moft part of the Winter Water was our 
Drink. In the whole Winter we took not above a Dozen 
Foxes, many of which would be dead in the Traps two 
or three Days oftentimes *, and then, when the Blood was 
fettled, they would be unwholefome ; but if we took one 
alive, and he had not been long in theTrap,him we boiled 
and made Broth for the weakeft fick Men *, the Flefh 
of them being' foft boiled they eat alfo. Some white 
Partridges we killed, but not worth mentioning. 
We had three Sorts of fick Men ; thofe that could 
not move, nor turn themfelves in their Beds, who muft 
be tended like Infants ; others were, as it were crippled 
with Aches •, and others that were fomething better moft 
had fore Mouths. You may now afk me. How thefe 
infirm Men could work .? I will tell you : Our Surgeon, 
who was a diligent and fweet conditioned Man as ever I 
faw, would be up betimes in the Morning, and whilft 
he picked their Teeth, and cut away the Pieces of 
Flefh from their Gums, they would bathe their Thighs, 
Knees, and Legs. The Manner of it was thus ; there 
was no Tree, Bud, or Herb but we made Trial of it ; 
and this being firft boiled in a Kettle, and then put 
in a fmall Tub and Bafons, they put it under them, and 
covered them with Cloths upon it. This fo molified 
the grieved Parts, that though, when they rofe out of 
their Beds, they would be fo crippled that they could fcarce 
ftand, yet after this was done half an Hour they would 
be able to go, (and go they muft) to wade through the 
Snow to the Ship, and about other Bufinefs •, by Night 
they would be as bad again, and then they muft be 
bathed, anointed, and their Mouths drefied again before 
they went to Bed-, and in this Diet, and in this 
Manner we went through our Miferies. 
I was always afraid that we fhould be weakeft in the 
Spring, and therefore I referved a Tun of Alicant Wine 
unto this Time : Of this, by putting feven Parts of 
Water to one of Wine, we made fpme weak Beverage, 
which, by reafon that the Wine ha^il been froze and loft 
its Virtue, was little better than Water. The ficker Sort 
had a Pint of Alicant a Day by itfelf, and of fuch poor 
Aq^ua Vita too as we had, theyhad a Dram allowed them 
next their Hearts every Morning ; And thus we made the 
beft Ufe of what we had, according to the Seafons. May 
1632, the, I ft, we went aboard by-times, to heave out 
the Ice , the 2d, it did fnow and blow, and was fo cold 
that we were forced to keep houfe all Day. This un- 
cxpeded Cold, at this time of the Year, did fo vex' our 
fick Men that they grew worfe and worfe 5 we could not 
now take them out of their Beds, but they would fwoon, 
and we had much ado to keep Life in them. 
On the 3d, thofe that were able, went on board oe- 
tlmes, to heave up the Ice ; the Snow was now melted in 
many Places upon the Land, and ftood in Plafhes ; and 
now there came fome Cranes and Geefe to it. The 4th, 
while the reft wrought on board, I and the Surgeon went 
wnth a Couple of Pieces, to fee if we could kill any 
of thofe Fowls for our lick Men *, but never did I fee 
fuch Wild Fowl j they would not endure to fee any thing 
move •, wherefore we returned in two Hours, not being 
able to endure any longer ftalking through the Snow and 
the wet Plafhes. I verily thought my Feet and Legs 
would have fallen off, they fo tormented me with aching. 
The 6th, John W irdon^ the Mafter of my Ship’s Chief 
Charlton Ifiand 423 
Mate, died, whom .we buried m the Evening, in tlio 
moft Chriftian-like manner, on the Top of a bare Hill 
of Land, which we called Brandon-hill. The Weather 
continued very cold, it freezing fo hard in the Night that 
it would bear a Man. By the pth we were come tOj, 
and got up, our five Barrels of Beef and Pork, and had 
found four Butts of Beer and one of Cyder, which God 
had preferved for us; it had lain under Water all the 
Winter, yet we could not perceive it was any worfe« 
God make us ever thankful for the great and feafonable 
Comfort it gave us. 
The loth it fnowed, and blew fo cold that we Could 
not ftir out of the Houfe, yet neverthelefs, by Day, the 
Snow vaniftied apace on the Land. The irth we were 
on board betimes, to heave out Ice. By the 1 2th at 
Night we had cleaned out all the Ice out of the Hold, 
and found likewife our Store Shoes, which had lain foaked 
in the Water all the Winter, but we dried them by the 
Fire, and fitted ourfelves with them. VvT ftruck again our 
Cables into the Hold •, there ftpod a Butt of Wine alfo, which 
had been all the Winter on the Upper-deck, and con- 
tinued as yet all frozen. We fitted the Ship alfo, 
making her ready to fink again when the Ice broke up. 
We could find no Defeft in her, and therefore we 
hoped that fhe was ftaunch ; the Carpenter neverthelefs 
argued to the contrary, alledging that now fhe lay on the 
Ground, in her Deck the Ice had filled her Defers, and 
the Ice was the thing that kept out the Water -, but when 
fhe fhould come to labour in the Sea, fhe would certainly 
open, and indeed we could now fee quite through her 
Seams betwixt Wind and Water ; but that which troubled 
us moft was, the Lofs of her Rudder, and fhe now lay 
in the very Strength of the Tide, which whenever the Ice 
drove might tear her to Pieces •, but we ftill hoped the beft. 
28. The 13th, being the Sabbath-day, we folemnized it, 
giving God Thanks for thofe Hopes and Comforts we 
daily had. The Weather in the Day-time was pretty 
warm, but it froze by Night, yet now we could fee fome 
Land. The 14th we began a new fort of Work : The 
Boatfwain, and a convenient Number, brought on Shore 
the reft of our Rigging, which was much fpoiled by 
pecking it out of the Ice, and this they now fell to fitting, 
I fet the Cooper to fit our Cafk, although, poor Man, 
he v/as very infirm ; my Intent being to pafs fome Cables 
under the Ship, and fo to buoy her up v ith thofe Cafks, 
if we could not get her off otherwife ; fome others I 
ordered to go and fee if they could kill fome wild Fowl 
for our fick Men, who now grew worfe and worfe but 
this is to be remembred, that we had no Shot but what 
we made of the Aprons of our Guns, and fome old 
Pewter that we had ; for the Carpenter’s Sheet-Lead we 
durft not ufe. 
The* 1 5th I manured a little Patch of Ground that was 
bare of Snow, and fowed it with Peafe, hoping to have 
fome fhortly to eat ; for as yet we could fee no green 
Thing to comfort us. The i8th our Carpenter William 
Cole died ; a Man beloved of us all, as much for his 
innate Goodnefs, as for the prefent Neceffity we had of, 
a Man of his Quality : Tie had endured a long Sick-* 
nefs with Patience, and made a very godly End. In the 
Evening we buried him by Mr. Wardon, accompanied 
wdth as many as could go, for three more of our principal 
Men lay then expefting a good Hour, And now were 
we in the moft miferable State that we were in all the 
Voyage. Before this extreme Weaknefs, he had brought 
the Pinnace to that pafs, that ftie was ready to be bolt- 
ed, &c. and to be joined to receive the Planks ; 
fo that we were not fo difcouraged by his Death, but that 
we hoped, ourfelves, to finifh her, if the Ship proved 
unferviceable. This Pinnace was twenty-feven Feet by 
the Keel fhe had feventeen Ground-Timbers, thirty-four 
principal Staddles, and eight fhort Staddles ; He had con- 
trived her with a round Stern, to fave Labour, and in- 
deed file was a well-proportioned Veffel j her Burden was 
twelve or fourteen Tons. ■ 
In the Evening the Mafter of our Ship, after the Burial, 
returned aboard, and, looking about him, difcovered 
fome Part of our Gunner under the Gun-Room Ports. 
This Man we had committed to the Sea at a good Dif- 
