Stories of Elizabethan heroes : $b Stirring records of the intrepid bravery and boundless resource of the men of Queen Elizabeth's reignGilliat, Edward
History
Stories of Elizabethan heroes : $b Stirring records of the intrepid bravery and boundless resource of the men of Queen Elizabeth's reign
Gilliat, Edward
Great Britain -- Biography; Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth, 1558-1603
On the 18th they again passed the Cape of Virgins at the entrance to
the straits, and sailed easily through till they came to the "sea
reach." Here they stayed fourteen days, suffering from the cold and
want of food; for the seal-flesh had become uneatable. Then they
sailed into the Pacific on the 13th of September, but were driven
back by a furious storm and lost one of their cables, so that Davis
now had only one anchor left. It was so deep close to shore that
sometimes he could moor his ship to the trees. When for the third
time he was about to enter the Pacific, some of his men showed signs
of mutiny, so Davis wrote out a speech and requested the master to
repeat it to the crew. In this speech these words occur: "Because I
see in reason that the limits of our time are now drawing to an end,
I do in Christian charity exhort you, first, to forgive me in
whatsoever I have been grievous to you; secondly, that you will
rather pray for our General (Cavendish) than use hard speeches of him
... lastly, let us forgive one another, and be reconciled as children
in love and charity. So shall we, in leaving this life, live with
our glorious Redeemer, or, abiding in this life, find favour with
God." The men were pacified for a time, and agreed to continue the
voyage; but, as before, a gale sprang up and seas broke over the
_Desire_ and the black pinnace, till the latter got under the lee of
the larger ship.
"Captain Davis, sir, we have taken many grievous seas aboard; I can't
hardly tell what shift to make next," shouted the captain of the
pinnace.
Davis shouted back, "Trust in God--keep under our lee, friend."
Next day the black pinnace suddenly broached to and went down with
all hands.
"The 10th of October," writes Janes in his diary, "being very near
the shore, the weather dark, the storm furious, and most of our men
having given over to travail, we yielded ourselves to death without
further hope of succour. Our captain sitting in the gallery, very
pensive, I came and brought him some rosa solis (hot grog) to comfort
him; for he was so cold, he was scarce able to move a joint. After
he had drunk and was comforted in heart, he began, for the ease of
his conscience, to make a large repetition of his fore-passed time,
and with many grievous sighs he ended in these words: 'Oh most
gracious God, with whose power the mightiest things among men are
matters of no moment, I most humbly beseech Thee that the intolerable
burden of my sins may, through the blood of Jesus Christ, be taken
from me: end our days with speed, or show us some merciful sign of
Thy love and our preservation.'" Hardly had the captain's prayer
been uttered, than the sun shone out from a rift in the clouds, as if
a very token of help. Davis jumped up, took a meridian altitude, and
shaped a course for the straits. Every man felt relieved and even
cheery at the sudden change in the weather. Next day they sighted
the tall headland at the west end of the straits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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