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
Davis writes: "We sent our boats to search for shoal water, where we
might anchor, and as the boat went sounding and searching, the
natives having espied them, came in their canoes towards them with
shouts and cries; but after they had espied in the boat some of our
company that were the year before here with us, they presently rowed
to the boat, took hold on the oar, and hung about the boat with such
comfortable joy as would require a long discourse to be uttered."
Davis, seeing their confidence, went ashore and distributed twenty
knives: "They offered skins to me for reward, but I made signs that
they were not sold, but given them of courtesie." The next day, as
the crew were setting up a new pinnace, more than a hundred canoes
came round, bringing seal-skins and other furs for barter.
Davis and a party went inland, finding a plateau of grass and moss,
and many ravens and small birds. In July, after more exploring, in
which the natives kept him company, Davis organised athletic games,
leaping and wrestling--"In this we found them strong and nimble, for
they cast some of our men that were good wrestlers."
The people were of good stature, with small hands and feet, broad
faces, small deep-set eyes, wide mouths, and beardless; they wore
images and believed in enchantments. But other failings soon
appeared, for they were "marvellous thievish," began to cut the
cables, cut away the _Moonshine's_ boat from her stern, stole oars, a
caliver, a boar-spear and swords. Davis was for forbearance, but his
men were angry, and complained heavily, "said that my lenitie and
friendly using of them gave them stomacke to mischiefe." Still Davis
went on giving presents, but at sundown the Eskimos began throwing
stones into the _Moonshine_, which caused a pursuit and some shots.
At last they captured one of the thieves, and another followed with
lamentation as far as the ship. "At length the fellow aboard us
spake four or five words unto the other and clapped his two hands
upon his face, whereupon the other doing the like, departed as we
supposed with heavy cheer. We judged the covering of the face with
his hands and bowing of his body down, signified his death." But it
was not quite so bad as that, for they gave the captive a new suit of
frieze, of which he was very joyful; he became sociable, trimmed up
his darts and fishing tools, and would set his hand to a rope's end
upon occasion.
They soon came upon a mountain of ice and could not get on; the men
grew sick and feeble and begged Davis to return, so he sailed
south-east and found land free from snow. When they came to lat.
67°, they found numbers of gulls and mews, and caught a hundred cod
in half-an-hour. Landing, they found a black bear, pheasants,
partridges, wild ducks, and geese, and killed some with bow and arrow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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