rhe H I S T O R Y (/ 
Book IL 
certaihly are all forged, abufive, Pamphlets, as alfo the 
Relations of our own Countrymen. 
‘‘ But certainly if Men did really confider the many 
inevitable Dangers and Mifchiefs that come upon the 
broaching of fuch Untruths, they would never do it ; 
“ for I do now verily believe, that if there be no Land 
to the Northward of the Latitude of 8o Degrees, that 
“ the Sea that is there is all frozen, and always continueth 
“ fo j for I, that could get no farther than 76 Degrees, 
found it fd frozen without Intermiffion, and fome of 
“ the Ice that we faw, that was on the main Body, if it 
had been conveyed 10 Degrees more Southward, 
“ would have taken fome Centuries of Years to thaw it *, 
“ for the loofe Ice that lay about the Edges of the main 
“ Body, was not more than a Foot thick, in fome Pieces, 
“ above the Superficies of the Water, and the reft of the 
“ Cake that was funk, was more than 1 8 Feet below ^ 
“ fo I conclude that thole vaft Mountains that were on the 
‘‘ main Body, were all afhore, as of Necelfity they muft 
“ if they hold the fame Proportion ; and confidering the 
Shallownefs of the Water, v^hich I found all along the 
“ Ice, which in the Mid-way, between the two Lands, 
“ I found to be no more than ten Fathom, was doubt- 
“ Ids a Sign that to the Northward is Land, and that 
“ the main Body of Ice, that lyeth cluftercd about the 
Shore, may be twenty Leagues or more and that 
“ ISlova Zembla and Greenland are the fame Continent ; 
“ for if there had been any Paffage, there would have 
“ been fome Current, which I could never, or very hard- 
“ ly, find to be any ; and the little there was run Eaft- 
“ fouth-eaft along the Ice, which is nothing elfe but a 
“ fmall Tide, which rifes fome eight Feet. Thus the 
“ Ice having been an Obftaclc in our Way, as alfo the 
“ Caufe of my coming fo far to theEaftward, which, be- 
“ fore I never intended, I will come to the Misfortune 
“ that happened to us in the Lofs of our Ship, which was 
“ thus: Being long amongft the Ice, the 29th Day of 
“ June^ in the Morning, we had like to have been in- 
“ clofed in it ; it proving like wife foggy Weather, I 
“ ftdod out to the Southward, thinking to lie there till 
“ fairer Weather, or to fpend fome Time to the South- 
“ ward, and then come to the Ice again, to fee if there 
“ might be any Alteration in it, as to its Removal, 
“ either to the Fall, Weft, North, or South ; but all 
“ this Day it proved foggy dirty Weather, the Wind 
‘‘ being at Weft, fo we lay South-fouth-weft with the 
“ Stern, and by our Judgment and Reckoning, the Weft- 
“ ermoft Land of Nova Zeynhla bore from usEaft-fouth- 
“ eaft, that was four Points under our Lee-Bow ^ but 
“ fuch was our Misfortune, that it proved not fo i for 
“ about ten o’ Clock, Captain Flawes^ being upon our 
“ Weather Quarter, fired a Gun, and bore to me, and 
“ called out that there was Ice ahead ; then I looked 
“ out ahead, faw fomething white juft under the Bow, 
“ which prefently I perceived to be a Breach and no Ice ; 
“ now if I had ftaid with the Ship, Captain Flawes be- 
“ ing to the Windward, I fhould have been aboard of 
“ him, and then certainly we had been both loft •, fo I 
“ was forced to bear up with Hope that I might get 
“ clear of it ; but the Ship being a great while wearing 
“ ftruck on the Rock, her Head lying to Seaward, which 
“ if it had notj but that the Broad-fide had been to the 
“ Sea, we had all perifhed, without God’s great Mercy. 
“ Captain Flawes^ in the mean Time (being a fhorter 
“ Ship) wore round, and came clofe under our Stern, 
“ and with great Providence efcaped and ftood off to 
Sea •, here we lay beating on the Rock in a moft cruel 
Manner, for the Space of three or four Hours, ufing 
“ all poffible Means to fave her, but all in vain ; for it 
blew fo hard, that it was impoffible to carry out an 
Anchor, capable of doing us any Service ; though 
we had an Opportunity to carry out a fmall Anchor, 
“ and Warp to haul another out by, which fignified but 
“ little ; the Ship all this while lay, .and at the End of 
“ four or five Hours we faw Land clofe under our Stern, 
“ to the great. Amazement of us all, which before 
“ we could not fee for foggy Weather ; fo I commanded 
“ the Men to get out our Boat before our Maft came by 
** the Board j which was done. I fent the Boatfwain 
“ toward the Shore in the Pinnace, to fee if there was 
“ any Poffibility of landing, which I much feared, be- 
caufe the Sea ran fo high. In half an Hour he returned 
with this Anfwer : That it was impoffible to fave a 
“ Man the Sea ran fo high ; and the Snow being in high 
“ Cliffs on Shore it was inacceflible, which was but bad 
Tidings ; fo then it was high time to think on the 
“ Safety of our Souls, and we all went together to 
“ Prayers, to befeech God to have Mercy on us ; for here 
“ nothing but inevitable Ruin appeared before our Eyes. 
“ After Prayers were done it proved a little clearer 
“ Weather, and I, looking over the Stern, faw a fmall 
‘ ‘ Beach direftly with the Stern of the Ship, where I thought 
“ there might be fome Poffibility of landing ; fo I fent the 
“ Pinnace again with fome Men, to be landed; but they 
“ durft not venture on Shore : fo I fent the Longboat 
“ with fome twenty Men, to land, who attempted it, 
“ and got fafe on Shore *, fo they in the Pinnace feeing 
“ that followed them and their Men likewife, and both 
“ returned on board again. Now the Men on the Shore 
“ fent to me to defire fome Fire-arms and Ammunition; 
“ for there were many Bears on Shore: Sol caufed to 
“ be put into the Pinnace two Barrels of Powder that we 
“ had faved dry, before the Ship was bulged, and fome 
“ fmall Arms and Provifions, with my own Papers and 
“ Money ; but as flie put off from the Ship-fide a Sea 
“ overfet her, fo that all was loft, with the Life of one 
“ Man, by Name John Bofman^ being Cooper’s Mate, 
“ and feveral others, taken up for dead. The Longboat 
“ being then on Shore to land more Men ; and they 
“ hearing us call from a-board (when, as then, we could 
“ .not fee the Shore) they came onboard, and faved the 
“ Men ; but the Pinnace was all broken to Pieces, wffiich 
“ was no fmall Grief to us ; fo the Lugboat being on 
“ board, and the Sea running prodigious high, the 
“ Boatfwain, and fome others, would compel me and the 
“ Lieutenant to leave the Ship ; faying. It was impoffible 
“ for the Boat to live any longer in that Sea ; and that 
they had rather be drowned than I ; but defiring me 
“ when 1 came afliore (if it was poffible) to fend the 
“ Boat again for them ; fo I being half way on Shore, 
“ the Ship overfet, fo I made all the hafte poffible to 
“ land the Men I had in the Boat ; and, having landed 
“ them, I went off to the Ship again, to fave thofe poor 
“ Men that had been fo kind to me ; and, with great 
“ Hazard, I got with the Boat to the Charter of the 
“ Ship, and they came down the Ladder into the Boat, 
“ only one Man who was left for dead, which was one 
“ that had been caft away in the Pinnace, whofe Nam'e 
“ was Alexander Frazer^ a very pretty Sailor ; fo I re- 
“ turned to the Shore, and got fafe to Land, though 
“ very wet and cold ; fo we hauled up the Boat on 
“ Shore, and went up the Land about a Flight- 
“ Shot, where our Men were making a Fire, and a 
“ Tent with Canvas and Oars, which we had faved 
“ for that Purpofe ; fo we lay all that Night very cold, 
“ wet, and weary. 
“ The next Morning, the Man that was left on board 
“ recovered, and got unto the Mizen-top, for that Maft 
“ was left ftanding when we came away, the others we 
“ had cut all down. The Ship laboured, and beat vio- 
“ lently, but it blew fo hard, and the Sea ran fo high, 
“ that it was impoffible to fave him; fo the Weather 
“ continuing blowing, with extreme Fogs, and with 
“ Froft and Snow, and all the ill-compadted Weather 
“ that could be imagined together ; we built more Tents 
“ to preferve ourfelves, and the Ship breaking in 
“ Pieces came all affiore to the fame Place wh^re 
“ we landed, which ferved for Shelter and Firing ; be- 
“ fides, there came to us fome Hogffieads of Flower, 
“ good Store, which was no fmall Comfort in our great 
“ Extremity ; and we lay betwixt Hope and Defpair, 
“ hoping for fair Weather, thatCapt. Flawes might find 
“ us, which was impoffible that ever he fhould, if it 
“ continued foggy ; fome defpairing of his being fafe ; 
“ but that he might be loft as well as me. 
“ But fuppofing we were never to fee him again, I was 
“ refolved to try the utmoft to fave as many as I could 
“ in the Longboat ; in order thereunto we raifed her two 
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