Being on Board he descants on his ensuing misery; yet draws comfort to himself from the sufferings of others. He relateth how he was freed from his intended banishment by a double Shipwrack; the manner thereof he amply declareth.

The Ship that was to transport me lay at Wollidge: about the latter end of Aug. 1650. I was conveyed aboard a lusty Ship, a Virginia-Merchantman, and was instantly clapt under hatches; but I knew they would quickly call me aloft, if there was any fighting work; as such a thing might easily be, since the Sea was no where free from such as would make a prize of what Vessels were too weak to contend with them. Having pen, ink, and paper about me, I busied my thoughts and pen in contriving consolation for my disquieted and disconsolate mind, thus:

About the beginning of September following, we set sail for the Downs. As soon as we had weighed Anchor, a thick melancholy cloud encompassed my thoughts, and so much sadness seized my spirits, as if I had been not so much taking my leave of my dearly beloved Country, as leaving the world. Though my soul could not foresee the least danger, nor be troubled at the apprehension of what slavery I was to undergo in my exilement; yet certainly I found this strange anguish and propassion to be ominous, proceeding from something divine, which is able to unriddle the Apocrypha of nature, and made my soul sensible of some approaching mischief. Having been about 5 days at Sea, one morning, just as the Sun began to gild our Hemisphere with his Golden rays, the Boatswain made us all turn out, & commanded all hands upon deck: coming aloft, I could not see a man in whose face there was not written the pale characters of fear and amazement; which were the infallible marks of some sudden and ensuing danger. Upon my first coming on board, I could discern a great many red nos’d fellows (a drunkards truest indicium) but the apprehension of present danger had now extinguisht all those flaming torches of their faces, without the help of water: The faces indeed of the stoutest amongst us, were so altered by this affrightment, that we knew not almost one another; losing our natural complexions through the extremity of passion. One was at his prayers, that never till then knew what a prayer was; another shedding of briny tears, to make room for more salt waters: for my own part, I found my self not much moved, having lately made my self acquainted with death. By this time I understood what had past; that is, our Ship had sprung a leak, and was ready to sink. Seeing every man in that posture, and that there required means, as well as prayers for our preservation; Come (said I) Gentlemen, let us not thus cry out, and never lend our assisting hand; let us to the pump, and let every one be imployed in this grand concern. Whereupon we all unanimously fell to work: but as it is usual in such extreams, we were all busie about doing of nothing: what we began we left imperfect, and fell to another, and so perfected nothing to our safety. Some were sent down into the Hold, who quickly returned to us with the symptoms of death in their countenances; for they all with hesitations and quivering of tongue, with words abruptly or half spoken, signified to us, that our Ships wound was incurable, that the leak could not be stopt, but that we must inevitably perish within some minutes. These words I received as from a Deaths-head, which I never heard speak before; and truly his very looks would have sufficiently declared what message he was about to deliver, viz. ruine and immediate destruction. Our inexpressible fears bereaved us of the power of counselling one another; neither did we know what was best to be done. Our Master commanded our Long-boat to be cast out, and withal, ordered some eight Guns to be fir’d, which methought resembled so many toles of my Passing-bell, when I was design’d to pass by St. Sepulchres Church in a Cart, guarded by fellows whose visages were the true resemblance of the Saracens-head on Snow-hill, for terror, horror, and merciless proceeding; as to all which, these Cannibals will outvie that inhumane and bloody Nation. Every man indeavoured to shift for himself, and I amongst the rest (being loath to be drowned alone) leapt short of the boat, and fell into the Sea in Charontis Cymba; but necessity then forcing me to use treble diligence to recover my self, with much difficulty I got into the boat: I was no sooner there, but another leapt down upon me, and had like to have beaten the rest of my breath out of my body: which I took kindly enough: for I would have been content to have born them all on my back, nay, boat and all, so that I might have escaped with life. We were constrained to leave many of our friends behind us, and committed our selves to the Sea, driving us we knew not whither. Now were all our hopes dashed, as well as our selves, by the waves; for we were almost in despair of humane help: for we were left in the wide Ocean, which did not at that time wear a smooth brow, but contending with the wind, swell’d into prodigious mountains, which every moment threatned our overwhelming. How could we expect safety in an open Shaloup, when so stately a Castle of wood, which we but now lost, could not defend it self, nor preserve us from the insolency of the imperious waves? We were many leagues from any shore, having neither Compass to guide us, nor provision to sustain us, being as well starv’d with cold as hunger. Several bags of mony we had with us; but what good could that do us, where there is no exchange? We could neither eat nor drink it; neither would it keep us warm, nor purchase our deliverance. Therefore we may justly esteem of money in its own nature, as an impotent creature, a very cripple, inutile pondus, an useless burden. I could not now imagine anything could preserve us, less than a miracle: and as we were all sinful creatures, especially my self, we could not expect that nature should go out of her ordinary way to save us. The waves indeed carried us up to Heaven,

Neptune sure at this time was very gamesome, for he play’d at Tennis with us poor mortals, making a wave his Racket to bandie us up and down like Balls: Sometimes he seem’d so proud and lofty, being raised so high, as if he had been about to scale Heaven; which the incensed Deity perceiving, seemed again to throw us down headlong to Hell, for too much ambition & presumption: yet I could not see, but that the extremity of our condition pleaded for us, crying aloud for pity and compassion. I was now silent, committing my self into the hands of providence; yet verily believing, that the inversion of the old Proverb appertained to me, that being not born to be hang’d, I should be drown’d. Commonly we are not so much mov’d with a clamourous and importunate beggar, who hunts after our Alms with open mouth, and makes Hue and Cry after our Charity (as if we had rob’d him who begs of us) as with the silence of impotent and diseased Lazaro’s: their sores speak loudest to our affections; Quot vulnera, tot ora; each wound is a gaping mouth strenuously imploring mercy; the sight whereof, cannot but melt the most obdurate spectator into a charitable compassion. This was our case, our misery was louder than our prayers, and our deplorable condition, certainly was more prevalent then our imperfect devotions. In this moment of death, when we were without the least expectation of any deliverance, the wind chopt about, and drove back one Ship that had over-run us: this was unquestionably Digitus Dei. This Ship made towards us, and we, what in us lay, towards it: The wind blew hard, and the insulting Sea, that will not admit of pity, rose high upon us: so that we were forced to lave the water out of the boat with our hats. It was my chance to sit on the weather side; fain would I have exchanged my place, but such complements are useless in a storm; so that I was constrained to endure patiently the indignation of my raging enemy. But now began another despair; for with all our endeavours we could not reach the Ship, nor she us, although she hung on the Lee to retard her course. Thus our pregnant hopes brought forth nothing but wind and water (for the Ship rode on furiously before the wind, and we came after in pursuit of her, as slowly as if an hedg-hog had been running with a Race-horse;) so that we which before flattered our selves with an assurance of safety, were as much confounded with a certainty of perishing. In my opinion it is better to have no hopes at all, than be disappointed in them: doubtless it did redouble the punishment of Tantalus, to touch what he could not taste. That Mariner, who seeing a fatal necessity for it, is contented to die in a tempest, would be exceedingly troubled to perish in a Haven, In Portu perire. In this very condition were we, having a Ship near us, but could not board her for stress of weather; so that ruine attended us, though all the while we lookt safety in the face. Now did it grow dark, whereby we could not see which way to row: though this was an evil in its own nature, yet accidentally it became our benefit: for not seeing our danger, we understood it not; but redoubling our strength, we brake through the waves, and by the assistance of a light, which was in the Ship, we directed our course truly; and now did we find we were very near her. As soon as we toucht her on the Lee-side, the Sea-men, with the rest in the boat, being more dexterous in the art of climbing than my self, never regarding their exil’d Prisoner (whom they ought to have taken charge of) got all up into the Ship in a moment, leaving me alone in the boat. By good hap they threw me out a Cope, which once had like to have deprived me of my life, but was now the preserver: which I held fast, to keep the Boat from staving off. Our Boat was half full of water, and the waves dashed it so violently against the Ship-side, that every such stroke struck me down, so that I had like to have been drowned (and did much fear it) in that epitome of the Sea. It would have vexed a man in my condition, to escape by swimming over a large River, and coming ashore, to be drowned in a washbowle. At last with much difficulty I got aboard too. The Master, Merchants, &c. having sav’d their lives (even miraculously) one would have thought they should not have been so pensive as they were for the loss of their goods. Those which lost much took it very heavily; those which lost less, their affliction was greater, having lost all: I was the most glad, joy riding in triumph in my chearful countenance, having lost nothing, neither could I any thing, but my life. Having escapt so miraculously, it was unchristian-like to murmur at any loss; and as ridiculous, as if a man being restored to life, should complain that his winding-sheet had sustained some damage by lying in the grave. The Ship wherein we were, was bound for the Canaries, the wind blowing very faire for that coast. The second night after our deliverance, about ten a’clock, having set our Watch, we laid our selves down to rest, with the thoughts of much safety and security, but it was otherwise decreed; for about one a’clock we were forced to use all hands aloft, a most terrible storm beginning to arise, and the wind blew so furiously, that before morning we lost our Bow-sprit and Mizon: we durst not bear the least sayl, but let the Ship drive whither the winde and waves pleased; and before the next night, we could not indure our remaining Masts standing, but were necessitated to cut them by the board. Thus we were tumbled up and down for four days, and as many nights, contending with the waves in a Pitcht-battel, not knowing where we were, till our Ship struck so violently against a Rock, that the horrid noise thereof would have even made a dead man startle; to which, add the hideous cries of the Sea-men, bearing a part with the whistling winds and roaring Sea; all which together, seemed to me to be the truest Representation of the Day of Judgement. The Ship stuck fast so long between two Rocks, as that we had time enough, all of us, to leap out; the only means left us for our safety. We all got upon a Rock, and the Morning-star having drawn the Curtain of the night, we found that we were a very little distance from the shore; getting thereon, and ranging to and fro, we at last espied a small house, the sight whereof made us direct our foot-steps thither, steering our course solely by the compass of our eyes: being come to the house, the Master thereof stood at the door; we addrest our selves to him in English, but his replications were in Spanish, which we understood not: wherefore I spake to him in Latine, in which language he answered me, Tam compte, tam prompte, both quaintly and readily. In that tongue I made a shift to tell him the sad Iliades of our misfortunes. This noble Spaniard understood it better by our looks, than my relations; which made such a deep impression in his soul, that his gravity could not forbear the shedding of some few tears, so that one would have thought he suffered Shipwrack as well as we. He desired us to come into his house, and refresh our selves: what little meat he had, stew’d in a horse-load of herbs, with some pottage onely seasoned by a piece of Bacon, that had serv’d for that purpose at least a dozen times) he ordered to be set before us; being no ways sparing of his wine, better than any I ever yet could taste in Taverns; this good man being not acquainted with dashings, dulcifyings, &c. Seeing us eat so heartily, he caused another dish to be provided, which was composed of such variety of creatures, that I thought he had served us in as a Mess, the first Chapter of Genesis: This Ola-podrida was so cookt, that the distinction of each creature was fauc’d out of our knowledge. Having satisfied our hungry stomachs, he dismist all excepting my self, desiring me to accept of what kindness he could do me, for he confest he took much pleasure in my society and discourse. I was very well contented to entertain his proffer: in some few days he told me he was to go to Sea, being Captain of a Vessel that lay in Perimbana, a small Sea-faring Town near the place of our Shipwrack; and asking me whether I would go with him to the Indies (whither he was bound) I readily consented, and in some few days after we did sail from thence, to perfect our intended Voyage.