May 3.--To-day some of the snow melted on the land, and some cranes and
geese have come to it. I and the surgeon have been with a couple of
fowling-pieces to see if we could kill any for our sick men, but never
did I see such wild-fowl; they would not endure to see anything move,
therefore we have been obliged to return empty-handed and wearied.
May 9.--We have at last come to and got up our five barrels of beef and
pork which were sunk in the hold, and we have also found four butts of
beer, which will be as a cordial to our sick men. God make us ever
thankful for the comforts that He gives us!
May 13.--This is the Sabbath day, which we have solemnized, giving God
thanks for those hopes and comforts which we daily have.
May 21.--This is the warmest day we have yet had. Two of my men have I
sent a fowling, and myself, the master, the surgeon, and one more with
our guns and our dogs, have been into the woods to see what comfort we
could find. We have wandered full eight miles from the house, and have
searched with all diligence, but returned comfortless; not an herb, no
leaf eatable, that we could find. Our fowlers have had as bad success.
The snow is by this time pretty well wasted in the woods. We have a high
tree on the highest part of the island which we call our watch-tree, and
from the top thereof we can see far over the seas, but we find no
appearance of breaking up yet.
May 24.--Very warm sunshine. The ice doth consume by the shore side, and
cracks all over the bay with a fearful noise. This morning I sent two to
search for the ship's rudder, which was buried among the ice, and a
fortunate fellow, one David Hammon, pecking between the broken blocks,
struck upon it, who crying out that he had found it, the rest came and
got it up on the ice, and so into the ship. O, this was a joyful day to
us all; and we gave God thanks for the hopes we had of it.
May 31.--We have found some vetches on the beach, which I have made the
men pick up, and boil for their sick comrades.
June 4.--These four days hath it snowed, hailed, and blown hard; and it
hath been so cold that the water in our cans did freeze in the very
house, our clothes also, that had been washed and hung out to dry, did
not thaw all day.
June 15.--This day I went to our watch-tree, but the sea was still firm
and frozen, and the bay we were in was full of ice.
June 16.--Here have there lately appeared divers sorts of flies, and
such an abundance of mosquitoes, that we are more tormented with them
than ever we were with the cold weather. Here be likewise ants, and
frogs in the ponds upon the land, but we durst not eat of them, they
looked so speckled like toads. By this time there are neither bears,
foxes, nor fowl, to be seen; they are all gone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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