quarter of an hour after that he spoke, grew better, and in a little time quite well. After the blood was stopped, he walked about; told us he was perfectly well; took a dram of cordial which the surgeon gave him, and was what we called come to himself. About a quarter of an hour after this, they came running into the cabin to the surgeon, who was bleeding a French woman that had fainted, and told him the priest was gone stark mad. It seems he had begun to revolve the change of his circumstances in his mind, and again this put him into an ecstasy of joy; his spirits whirled about faster than the vessels could convey them, the blood grew hot and feverish, and the man was as fit for Bedlam as any creature that ever was in it: the surgeon would not bleed him again in that condition, but gave him something to doze and put him to sleep, which, after some time, operated upon him, and he awoke next morning perfectly composed and well.

The younger priest behaved with great command of his passions, and was really an example of a serious, well governed mind: at his first coming on board the ship, he threw himself flat on his face, prostrating himself in thankfulness for his deliverance, in which I unhappily and unseasonably disturbed him, really thinking he had been in a swoon; but he spoke calmly, thanked me, told me he was giving God thanks for his deliverance; begged me to leave him a few moments, and that, next to his Maker, he would give me thanks also.

I was heartily sorry that I disturbed him, and not only left him, but kept others from interrupting him also. He continued in that posture about three minutes, or little more, after I left him; then came to me, as he had said he would, and, with a great deal of seriousness and affection, but with tears in his eyes, thanked me, that had, under God, given him, and so many miserable creatures, their lives. I told him I had no room to move him to thank God for it, rather than me, for I had seen that he had done that already; but, I added, that it was nothing but what reason and humanity dictated to all men; and that we had as much reason as he to give thanks to God, who had blessed us so far, as to make us the instruments of his mercy to so many of his creatures.

After this, the young priest applied himself to his countryfolks; laboured to compose them; persuaded, entreated, argued, reasoned with them, and did his utmost to keep them within the exercise of their reason; and with some he had success, though others were for a time out of all government of themselves.

I cannot help committing this to writing, as perhaps it may be useful to those into whose hands it may fall, for the guiding themselves in all the extravagances of their passions; for if an excess of joy can carry men out to such a length beyond the reach of their reason, what will not the extravagances of anger, rage, and a provoked mind, carry us to? And, indeed, here I saw reason for keeping an exceeding watch over our passions of every kind, as well those of joy and satisfaction, as those of sorrow and anger.

We were something disordered, by these extravagances among our new guests, for the first day; but when they had been retired, lodgings provided for them as well as our ship would allow, and they had slept heartily-as most of them did, being fatigued and frightened-they were quite another sort of people the next day.

Nothing of good manners, or civil acknowledgments for the kindness shown them, was wanting; the French, it is known, are naturally apt enough to exceed that way. The captain and one of the priests came to me the next day, and desired to speak with me and my nephew: the commander began to consult with us what should be done with them; and first, they told us that we had saved their lives, so all they had was little enough for a return to us for that kindness received. The captain said they had saved some money, and some things of value, in their boats, catched hastily out of the flames, and if we would accept it, they were ordered to make an offer of it all to us: they only desired to be set on shore somewhere in our way, where, if possible, they might get a passage to France. My nephew was for accepting their money at first word, and to consider what to do with them afterwards; but I overruled him in that part, for I knew what it was to be set on shore in a strange country: and if the Portuguese captain that took me up at sea had served me so, and took all I had for my deliverance, I must have starved, or have been as much a slave at the Brazils as I had been at Barbary, the mere being sold to a Mahometan excepted; and perhaps a Portuguese is not a much better master than a Turk, if not, in some cases, much worse.

I therefore told the French captain that we had taken them up in their distress, it was true, but that it was our duty to do so, as we were fellow-creatures; and we would desire to be so delivered, if we were in the like, or any other extremity; that we had done nothing for them but what we believed they would have done for us, if we had been in their case, and they in ours; but that we took them up to save them, not to plunder them; and it would be a most barbarous thing to take that little from them which they had saved out of the fire, and then set them on shore and leave them; that this would be first to save them from death, and then kill them ourselves; save them from drowning, and abandon them to starving; and therefore I would not let the least thing be taken from them. As to setting them on shore, I told them, indeed, that was an exceeding difficulty to us, for that ne ship was bound to the East Indies; and though we were driven out of our course to the westward a very great way, and

perhaps were directed by Heaven on purpose for their deliverance, yet it was impossible for us wilfully to change our voyage on their particular account; nor could my nephew, the captain, answer it to the freighters, with whom he was under charterparty to pursue his voyage by the way of Brazil: and all I knew we could do for them, was to put ourselves in the way of meeting with other ships homeward bound from the West Indies, and get them a passage, if possible, to England or France.

The first part of the proposal was so generous and kind, they could not but be very thankful for it; but they were in a very great consternation, especially the passengers, at the notion of being carried away to the East Indies: they then entreated me, that seeing I was driven so far to the westward before I met with them, I would at least keep on the same course to the Banks of Newfoundland, where it was probable I might meet with some ship or sloop that they might hire to carry them back to Canada, from whence they came.

I thought this was but a reasonable request on their part, and therefore I inclined to agree to it it; for, indeed, I considered, that to carry this whole company to the East Indies, would not only be an intolerable severity upon the poor people, but would be ruining our whole voyage, by devouring all our provisions; so I thought it no breach of charter-party, but what an unforeseen accident made absolutely necessary to us, and in which no one could say we were to blame; for the laws of God and nature would have forbid that we should refuse to take up two boats' full of people in such a distressed condition; and the nature of the thing, as well respecting ourselves as the poor people, obliged us to set them on shore somewhere or other for their deliverance: so I consented that we would carry them to Newfoundland, if wind and weather would permit; and if not, that I would carry them to Martinico, in the West Indies.

THE wind continued fresh easterly, but the weather pretty good, and as the winds had continued in the points between N.E. and S.E. a long time, we missed several opportunities of sending them to France; for we met several ships bound to Europe, whereof two were French, from St. Christopher's; but they had been so long beating up against the wind, that they durst take in no passengers, for fear of wanting provisions for the voyage, as well for themselves as for those they should take in; so we were obliged to go on. It was about a week after this that we made the Banks of Newfoundland; where, to shorten my story, we put all our French people on board a bark, which they hired at sea there, to put them on shore, and afterwards to carry them to France, if they could get provisions to victual themselves with. When I say all the French went on shore, I should remember, that the young priest I spoke of, hearing we were bound to the East Indies, desired to go the voyage with us, and to be set on shore on the coast of Coromandel; which I readily agreed to, for I wonderfully liked the man, and had very good reason, as will appear afterwards: also four of the seamen entered them selves on our ship, and proved very useful fellows.

From hence we directed our course to the West Indies, steering away S. and S. by E. for about twenty days together, sometimes little or no wind at all; when we met with another subject for our humanity to work upon, almost as deplorable as that before.

i

It was in the latitude of twenty-seven degrees five minutes north, on the 19th day of March, 1694-5, when we spied a sail, our course S.E. and by S.: we soon perceived it was a large vessel, and that she bore up to us, but could not at first know what to make of her, till, after coming a little nearer, we found she had lost her main topmast, foremast, and bowsprit; and presently she fired a gun, as a signal of distress: the weather was pretty good, wind at N.N.W., a fresh gale, and we soon came to speak with her.

We found her a ship of Bristol, bound home from Barbadoes, but had been blown out of the road at Barbadoes a few days before she was ready to sail, by a terrible hurricane, while the captain and chief mate were both gone on shore; so that, besides the terror of the storm, they were in an indifferent case for good artists to bring the ship home. They had been already nine weeks at sea, and had met with another terrible storm, after the hurricane was over, which had blown them quite out of their knowledge to the westward, and in which they lost their masts, as above. They told us they expected to have seen the Bahama islands, but were then driven away again to the south-east, by a strong gale of wind at N.N.W., the same that blew now: and having no sails to work the ship with but a maincourse, and a kind of square sail upon a jury foremast, which they had set up, they could not lie near the wind, but were endeavouring to stand away for the Canaries.

But that which was worst of all was, that they were almost starved for want of provisions, besides the fatigues they had undergone: their bread and flesh were quite gone; they had not one ounce left in the ship, and had none for eleven days. The only relief they had was, their water was not all spent, and they had about half a barrel of flour left; they had sugar enough; some succades, or sweetmeats, they had at first, but they were devoured; and they had seven casks of rum.

There were a youth and his mother, and a maid-servant, on board, who were going passengers, and thinking the ship was ready to sail, unhappily came on board the evening before the hurricane began; and having no provisions of their own left, they were in a more deplorable condition than the rest: for the seamen, being reduced to such an extreme necessity themselves, had no compassion, we may be sure, for the poor passengers; and they were, indeed, in a condition, that their misery is very hard to describe.

I had perhaps not known this part, if my curiosity had not led me (the weather being fair, and the wind abated) to go on board the ship. The second mate, who, upon this occasion, commanded the ship, had been on board our ship, and he told ine, indeed, they had three passengers in the great cabin, that were in a deplorable condition: Nay, says he, I believe they are