and bad weather happened, on this first fetting out, which made the voyage longer than I expected it at first; and I, who had never made but one voyage, (viz.) my first voyage to Guinea, in which I might be faid to come back again as the voyage was at first defigned, began to think the fame ill fate still attended me; and that I was born to be never contented with being on fhore, and yet to be always unfortunate at fea. Contrary winds first put us to the northward, and we were obliged to put in at Galway in Ireland, where we lay wind-bound two and thirty days; but we had this fatisfaction with the disaster, that provisions were here exceeding cheap, and in the utmost plenty; fo that while we lay here we never touched the fhip's stores, but rather added to them; here also I took feveral hogs, and two cows, with their calves, which I refolved, if I had a good paffage, to put on fhore in my island; but we found occafion to dispose otherwife of them. We set out the 5th of February from Ireland, and had a very fair gale of wind for fome days; as I remember, it might be about the 20th of February in the evening late, when the mate having the watch, came into the round-house, and told us he saw a flash of fire, and heard a gun fired; and while he was telling us of it, a boy came in, and told us the boatfwain heard another. This made us all run out upon the quarter-deck, where for a while we heard nothing, but in a few minutes we faw a very great light, and found that there was fome very terrible fire at a distance; immediately we had recourfe to our reckonings, in which we all agreed that there could be no land that that way, in which the fire fhewed itself, no not for 500 leagues, for it appeard at W. N. W. upon this we concluded it must be some ship on fire at fea; and as by our hearing the noise of guns just before, we concluded it could not be far off, we ftood directly towards it, and. were presently satisfied we should difcover it, because the farther we failed the greater the light appeared, tho' the weather being hazy we could not perceive any thing but the light for a while; in about half an hour's failing, the wind being fair for us, though not much of it, and the weather clearing up a little, we could plainly difcern that it was a great fhip on fire in the middle of the fea. I was most sensibly touched with this difafter, though not at all acquainted with the perfons engaged in it; I presently recollected my former circumstances, in what condition I was in when taken up by the Portugal Captain; and how much more deplorable - the circumstances of the poor creatures belonging to this ship must be if they had no other ship in company with them: upon this I immediately ordered, that five guns fhould be fired, one foon after another, that, if poffible, we might give notice to them that there was help for them at hand, and that they might endeavour to fave themselves in their boat; for though we could fee the flame in the ship, yet they, it being night, could fee nothing of us. We lay by fome time upon this, only driving as the burning fhip drove, waiting for day light; when on a fudden, to our great terror, though we had reason to expect it, the ship blew up in the air, and immediately funk: this was terrible, and indeed an afflicting fight, for the fake of the poor men, who, I concluded, concluded must be either all deftroyed in the fhip, or be in the utmoft diftrefs in their boats in the middle of the ocean, which, at present, by reason it was dark, I could not fee: however to direct them as well as I could, I caused lights to be hung out in all the parts of the fhip where we could, and which we had lanthorns for, and kept firing guns all the night long; letting them know by this, that there was a fhip not far off. About eight o'clock in the morning, we discovered the fhip's boats, by the help of our peripective-glaffes; and found there were two of them, both thronged with people, and deep in the water: we perceived they rowed, the wind being against them; that they faw our fhip, and did the utmost to make us fee them. We immediately fpread our ancient, to let them know we faw them; and hung a waft out, as a fignal for them to come on board; and then made more fail, standing directly to them. In a little more than half an hour, we came up with them, and, in a word, took them all in, being no lefs than fixtyfour men, women, and children; for there were a great many paffengers. Upon the whole, we found it was a French merchant-fhip of 300 tons, homeward-bound from Quebeck, in the river of Canada. The mafter gave. us a long account of the diftrefs of his fhip, how the fire began in the steerage by the negligence of the fteerfinan; but, on his crying out for help, was, as every body thought, entirely put out: but they foon found that fome fparks of the firft fire had gotten into fome part of the fhip, fo difficult to come at, Vol. II. C that that they could not effectually quench it; and after wards getting in between the timbers, and within the cieling of the fhip, it proceeded into the hold, and mastered all the fkill and all the application they were able to exert. They had no more to do then but to get into their boats, which, to their great confort, were pretty large; being their long boat, and a great fhallop, befides a small fkiff, which was of no great fervice to them, other than to get fome fresh water and provifions into her, after they had fecured themselves from the fire. They had indeed small hope of their lives by getting into these boats at that distance from any land; only, as they faid well, that they were escaped from the fire, and had a poffibility, that fome fhip might happen to be at fea, and might take them in. They had fails, oars, and a compass; and were preparing to make the best of their way to Newfoundland, the wind blowing pretty fair; for it blew an eafy gale at S. E. by E. They had as much provifions and water, as, with fparing it fo as to be next door to starving, might support them about 12 days; in which, if they had no bad weather, and no contrary winds, the captain faid, he hoped he might get to the banks of Newfoundland, and might perhaps take fome fish to sustain them till they might go on fhore. But there were fo many chances against them in all these cases; fuch as storms to overset and founder them; rains and cold to benumb and perifh their limbs; contrary winds to keep them out and ftarve them; that it must have been next to miraculous if they had efcaped. In the midst of their confultations, every one being hopeless, and ready to defpair, the captain with tears in in his eyes told me, they were on a fudden surprised with the joy of hearing a gun fire, and after that four more; these were the five guns which I caused to be fired at firft feeing the light: this revived their hearts, and gave them the notice, which, as above, I defigned it fhould, viz. that there was a fhip at hand for their help. It was upon the hearing these guns, that they took down their mafts and fails; and the found coming from the windward, they refolved to lie by till morning. Some time after this, hearing no more guns, they fired three mufquets, one a confiderable while after another; but these, the wind being contrary, we never heard. Some time after that again, they were still more agreeably surprised with feeing our lights, and hearing the guns, which, as I have faid, I caufed to be fired all the rest of the night; this fet them to work with their oars to keep their boats a-head, at least that we might the fooner come up with them; and at last, to their inexpreffible joy, they found we faw them It is impoffible for me to express the several gestures, the strange ecftafies, the variety of poftures, which these poor delivered people run into, to exprefs the joy of their fouls at fo unexpected a deliverance; grief and fear are easily defcribed; fighs, tears, groans, and a very few motions of head and hands, make up the fum of its variety: but an excefs of joy, a furprise of joy, has a thousand extravagancies in it; there were fome in tears, fome raging and tearing themselves, as if they had been in the greatest agonies of forrow; fome ftark raving and down-right_luna |