Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation': From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to MassachusettsBradford, William
History
Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation': From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts
Bradford, William
Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
After they had injoyed faire winds and weather for a season, they were
incountred many times with crosse winds, and mette with many feirce
stormes, with which y^e shipe was shroudly shaken, and her upper works
made very leakie; and one of the maine beames in y^e midd ships was
bowed & craked, which put them in some fear that y^e shipe could not be
able to performe y^e vioage. So some of y^e cheefe of y^e company,
perceiveing y^e mariners to feare y^e suffisiencie of y^e shipe, as
appeared by their mutterings, they entred into serious consulltation
with y^e m^r. & other officers of y^e ship, to consider in time of y^e
danger; and rather to returne then to cast them selves into a desperate
& inevitable perill. And truly ther was great distraction & differance
of opinion amongst y^e mariners them selves; faine would they doe what
could be done for their wages sake, (being now halfe the seas over,) and
on y^e other hand they were loath to hazard their lives too desperatly.
But in examening of all opinions, the m^r. & others affirmed they knew
y^e ship to be stronge & firme under water; and for the buckling of y^e
maine beame, ther was a great iron scrue y^e passengers brought out of
Holland, which would raise y^e beame into his place; y^e which being
done, the carpenter & m^r. affirmed that with a post put under it, set
firme in y^e lower deck, & otherways bounde, he would make it
sufficiente. And as for y^e decks & uper workes they would calke them as
well as they could, and though with y^e workeing of y^e ship they [46]
would not longe keepe stanch, yet ther would otherwise be no great
danger, if they did not overpress her with sails. So they co[=m]ited
them selves to y^e will of God, & resolved to proseede. In sundrie of
these stormes the winds were so feirce, & y^e seas so high, as they
could not beare a knote of saile, but were forced to hull, for diverce
days togither. And in one of them, as they thus lay at hull, in a mighty
storme, a lustie yonge man (called John Howland) coming upon some
occasion above y^e grattings, was, with a seele of the shipe throwne
into [y^e] sea; but it pleased God y^t he caught hould of y^e top-saile
halliards, which hunge over board, & rane out at length; yet he held
his hould (though he was sundrie fadomes under water) till he was hald
up by y^e same rope to y^e brime of y^e water, and then with a boat
hooke & other means got into y^e shipe againe, & his life saved; and
though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and
became a profitable member both in church & co[=m]one wealthe. In all
this viage ther died but one of y^e passengers, which was William
Butten, a youth, servant to Samuell Fuller, when they drew near y^e
coast. But to omite other things, (that I may be breefe,) after longe
beating at sea they fell with that land which is called Cape Cod; the
which being made & certainly knowne to be it, they were not a litle
joyfull.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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