A DISCOVERY OF THE BERMUDA, OTHERWISE called the I'll of DEVILS: By Sir THOMAS GATES, Sir GEORGE summers, and Captain NEWPORT, with divers others. Set forth for the love of my Country, and also for the good of the Plantation in Virginia.  
SIL. JOURDAN.  
LONDON, Printed by john Windet, and are to be sold by Roger Barnes in S. Dunstanes Church-yard in Fleetstreet, under the Dial. 1610.   

TO THE RIGHT Worshipful Master JOHN FITZIAMES' Esquire, one of his majesties chief justices of Peace within the County of DORSET.  
SIR, Amongst all the sins, that human nature doth stand possessed with, ingratitude, doth challenge a property in man, although it be a thing repugnant to reason, and disagreeing with all mutual focietie. To free myself from this vitium naturae, I am bold in these few lines to dedicate my love to you: for it were too tedious to use many words, where good will is the bond of love. This small gift I would entreat you to accept, if not for the quantity, yet for the quality.  
From London the thirteenth of October, 1610. Your Worships to command, SIL. JOURDAN.   

A DISCOVERY OF THE BERMUDA, OTHER WISE called the I'll of Devils.  
I Being in ship called the sea-venture, with Sir THOMAS Gates, our Governor, Sir GEORGE summers, and Captain Newport, three most worthy honoured Gentlemen, (whose valour and fortitude the world must needs take notice off, and that in most Honourable designs) bound for Virginia, in the height of thirty degrees of northerly latitude, or thereabouts: we were taken with a most sharp and cruel storm upon the five and twentieth day of july, Anno 1609. which did not only separate us from the residue of our fleet, (which were eight in number) but with the violent working of the Seas, our ship became so shaken, torn, and leaked, that she received so much water, as covered two ●ire of hogsheads above the ballast; that our men stood up to the middles, with buckets, baricos, and kettles, to bail out the water, and continually pumped for three days and three nights together, without any intermission; and yet the water seemed rather to increase, then to diminish: in so much that all our men, being utterly spent, tired, and disabled for longer labour, were even resolved, without any hope of their lives, to shut up the hatches, and to have committed themselves to the mercy of the sea, (which is said to be merciless) or rather to the mercy of their mighty God and redeemer, (whose mercies exceed all his works) seeing no help, nor hope, in the apprehension of man's reason, that any mother's child could escape that inevitable danger, which every man had proposed and digested to himself, of present sinking. So that some of them having some good and comfortable waters in the ship, fetched them, and drunk one to the other, taking their last leave one of the other, until their more joyful and happy meeting, in a more blessed world; when it pleased God out of his most gracious and merciful providence, so to direct and guide our ship, (being left to the mercy of the sea) for her most advantage; that Sir George summers (sitting upon the poop of the ship, (where he sat three days and three nights together, without meals meat, and little or no sleep) couning the ship to keep her as upright as he could, (for otherwise she must needs instantly have foundered) most wishedly happily descried land; whereupon he most comfortably encouraged the company to follow their pumping, and by no means to cease bailing out of the water, with their buckets, baricos, and kettles; whereby they were so over wearied, and their spirits so spent with long fasting, and continuance of their labour, that for the most part they were fallen asleep in corners, and wheresoever they chanced first to sit or lie: but hearing news of land, wherewith they grew to be somewhat revived, being carried with will and desire beyond their strength, every man bustled up, and gathered his strength and feeble spirits together, to perform as much as their weak force would permit him: through which weak means, it pleased God to work so strongly as the water was staid for that little time, (which as we all much feared, was the last period of our breathing) and the ship kept from present sinking, when it pleased God to send her within half an English mile, of that land that Sir George summers had not long before descried: Which were the Islands of the Bermudas. And there neither did our ship sink, but more fortunately in so great a misfortune, fell in between two rocks, where she was fast lodged and locked, for further budging: whereby we gained, not only sufficient time, with the present help of our boat, and skiff, safely to set, and convey our men ashore (which were one hundred and fifty in number) but afterwards had time and leisure to save some good part of our goods and provision, which the water had not spoiled, with all the tackling of the ship, and much of the iron about her, which were necessaries not a little available, for the building and furnishing of a new ship and pinnace, which we made there, for the transporting and carrying of us to Virginia. But our delivery was not more strange in falling so opportunely, and happily upon the land, as our feeding and preservation, was beyond our hopes, and all men's expectations most admirable. For the islands of the Bermudas, as every man knoweth that hath heard or read of them, were never inhabited by any Christian or Heathen people, but ever esteemed, and reputed, a most prodigious and enchanted place, affording nothing but gusts, storms, and foul weather; which made every Navigator and Mariner to avoid them, as Scylla and Charybdis; or as they would shun the Devil himself; and no man was ever heard, to make for the place, but as against their wills, they have by storms and dangerousness of the rocks, lying seven leagues into the Sea, suffered shipwreck; yet did we find there the air so temperate and the Country so abundantly fruitful of all fit necessaries, for the sustentation and preservation of man's life, that most in a manner of all our provisions of bread, bear, and victual, being quite spoiled, in lying long drowned in salt water, notwithstanding we were there for the space of nine months (few days over or under) not only well refreshed, comforted, and with good satiety contented, but out of the abundance thereof, provided us some reasonable quantity and proportion of provision, to carry us for Virginia, and to maintain ourselves, and that company we ●ound there, to the great relief of them, as it fell out in their so great extremities, and in respect of the shortness of time, until it pleased God, that by my Lords coming thither, their store was better supplied. And greater, and better provisions we might have made, if we had had better means for the storing and transportation thereof. Wherefore my opinion sincerely of this Island is, that whereas it hath been, and is still accounted, the most dangerous infortunate, and most forlorn place of the world, it is in truth the richest, healthfullest, and pleasing land, (the quantity and bigness thereof considered) and merely natural, as ever man set foot upon: the particular profits and benefits whereof, shall be more especially inserted, and hereunto annexed, which every man to his own private knowledge, that was there, can avouch and justify for a truth. Upon the eight and twentieth day of july 1609. (after the extremity of the storm, was something qualified) we fell upon the shore at the Bermudas; where after our general Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George summers, and Captain Newport, had by their provident carefulness landed all their men, and so much of the goods and provisions out of the ship, as was not utterly spoiled, every man disposed and applied himself, to search for, and to seek out such relief and sustentation, as the Country afforded: and Sir George summers, a man enured to extremities, (and knowing what thereunto belonged) was in this service, neither idle nor backward, but presently by his careful industry, went and found out sufficient, of many kind of fishes, and so plentiful thereof, that in half an hour, he took so many great fishes with hooks, as did suffice the whole company one day. And fish is there so abundant, that if a man step into the water, they will come round about him; so that men were feign to get out for fear of biting. These fishes are very fat and sweet, and of that proportion and bigness, that three of them will conveniently lad two men: those we called rock fish. Besides there are such abundance of mullets, that with a scene might be taken at one draft one thousand at the least, and infinite store of pilchards, with divers kinds of great fishes, the names of them unknown to me: of crayfish very great ones, and so great store as that there hath been taken in one night with making lights, even sufficient to feed the whole company a day. The Country affordeth great abundance of Hogs, as that there hath been taken by Sir George summers, who was the first that hunted for them, to the number of two and thirty at one time, which he brought to the company in a boat, built by his own hadst. There is Fowl in great numupon the islands, where they breed, that there hath been taken in two or three hours, a thousand at the least; the bird being of the bigness of a good Pigeon, and layeth eggs as big as Hen eggs upon the sand, where they come and lay them daily, although men sit down amongst them; that there hath been taken up in one morning, by Sir Thomas Gates men, one thousand of eggs: and Sir George summers men, coming a little distance of time after them, have stayed there whilst they came and laid their eggs amongst them, that they brought away as many more with them; with many young birds very fat and sweet. Another Sea fowl there is that lieth in little holes in the ground, like unto a cony-hole, and are in great numbers, exceeding good meat, very fat and sweet (those we had in the winter) and their eggs are white, and of that bigness, that they are not to be known from Hen eggs. The other bird's eggs are speckled, and of a different colour: there are also great score and plenty of Herons, and those so familiar and tame, that we beat them down from the trees with stones and staves; but such were young Herons: besides many white Herons, without so much as a black or grey feather on them; with other small birds so tame and gentle, that a man walking in the woods with a slick, and whistling to them, they will come and gaze on you, so near that you may strike and kill many of them with your stick; and with singing and hollowing you may do the like. There are also great store of Tortoses, (which some call Turtles) and those so great, that I have seen a bushel of eggs in one of their bellies, which are sweeter than any Hen egg: and the Tortose itself, is all very good meat, and yieldeth great store of oil, which is as sweet as any butter; and one of them will suffice fifty men a meal, at the least: and of these hath been taken great store, with two boats, at the least forty in one day. The Country yieldeth divers fruits, as prickled pears, great abundance, which continue green upon the trees all the year; also great plenty of Mulberries, white and red: and on the same are great store of Silkworms, which yield cod of silk, both white and yellow, being some course, and some fine. And there is a tree called a Palmito tree, which hath a very sweet berry, upon which the hogs do most feed; but our men finding the sweetness of them, did willingly share with the hogs for them, they being very pleasant and wholesome, which made them careless almost of any bread with their meat; which occasioned us to carry in a manner all that store of flower and meal, we did or could save for Virginia. The head of the Palmito tree is very good meat, either raw or sodden, it yieldeth a head which weigheth about twenty pound, and is far better meat, than any cabbage. There are an infinite number of Cedar trees, (the fairest I think in the world) and those bring forth a very sweet berry, and wholesome to eat. The Country (for as much as I could find myself, or hear by others) affords no venomous creature, or so much as a Rat or Mouse, or any other thing unwholesome. There is great store of Pearl, and some of them very fair, round, and Oriental; and you shall find at least one hundred seed of Pearl in one Oyster; there hath been likewise found, some good quantity of Amber Greece, and that of the best sort. There are also great plenty of Whales, which I conceive are very easy to be killed, for they come so usually, and ordinarily to the shore, that we heard them oftentimes in the night a bed; and have seen many of them near the shore, in the day time. There was borne upon the Bermudas, at the time of our being there two children, the one a man child, there baptized, by the name of Bermuda: and a woman child, baptized by the name of Barmuda: as also there was a marriage between two English people upon that Island. This Island, I mean the main Island, with all the broken Islands adjacent, are made in the form of a half Moon, but a little more rounder, and divided into many broken islands, and there are many good harbours in it, but we could find one especial place to go in, or rather to go out from it, which was not altogether free from some danger, and that lieth on the Southeastside, where there is three fathoms water, at the entrance thereof, but within six, seven, or eight fathoms at the least, where you may safely lie land-locked, from the danger of all winds and weathers, and more to the trees. The coming into it, is so narrow and strait between the rocks, as that it will with small store of munition be fortified, and easily defended, with all advantage the place affords, against the forces of the Potentest King of Europe. There are also plenty of Hawks, and very good Tobacco, as I think, which through forgetfulness, I had almost omitted: now having finished and rigged our ship, and pinnace, the one called the Deliverance, the pinnace the Patience, we prepared and made ourselves ready, to ship for Virginia, having powdered some store of hog's flesh, for provision thither, and the company thereof, for some reasonable time: but were compelled to make salt there for the same purpose, for all our salt was spent and spoiled, before we recovered the shore. We carried with us also a good portion of Tortose's oil, which either for frying or baking did us very great pleasure, it being very sweet, nourishing, and wholesome: the greatest defects we found there, was tar and pitch for our ship and pinnace, in steed whereof we were forced to make lime there of a hard kind of stone, and use it: which for the present occasion and necessity, with some wax we found cast up by the Sea, from some ship wrack, served the turn to pay the seams of the pinnace Sir George summers built, for which he had neither pitch nor tar: so that God in the supplying of all our wants, beyond all measure, showed himself still merciful unto us, that we might accomplish our intended voyage to Virginia, for which I confidently hope, he doth yet reserve a blessing in store, and to the which I presume, every honest and religious heart will readily give their Amen. When all things were made ready, and commodiously fitted, the wind coming fair, we set sail and put off from the Bermudas, the tenth day of May, in the year 1610. and arrived at james town in Virginia, the four and twentieth day of the same month: where we found some threescore persons living. And being then some three weeks or thereabouts passed, & not hearing of any supply, it was thought fitting by a general consent, to use the best means for the preservation of all those people that were living, being all in number two hundred persons. And so upon the eight of june one thousand six hundred and ten, we embarked at james Town: not having above fourteen days victaile, and so were determined to direct our course for newfoundland, there to refresh us, and supply ourselves with victaile, to bring us home; but it pleased God to dispose otherwise of us, and to give us better means. For being all of us shipped in four pinnices, and departed from the town, almost down half the River, we met my Lord de la War coming up with three ships, well furnished with victaile, which revived all the company, and gave them great content. And after some few days, my Lord understanding of the great plenty of Hogs and Fish, was at the Bermudas, and the necessity of them in Virginia, was desirous to send thither, to supply himself with those things, for the better comforting of his men, and the plantation of the Country. Whereupon Sir George summers being a man best acquainted with the place, and being willing to do service unto his Prince and Country: without any respect of his own private gain: and being of threescore years of age at the least, out of his worthy and valiant mind, offered himself to undertake to perform with Gods help that dangerous voyage for the Bermudas, for the better relief and comfort of the people in Virginia, and for the better plantation of it, which offer my Lord de la war, very willingly and thankfully accepted: and so upon the nineteenth of june, Sir George summers embarked himself at james town in a small barge of thirty ton, or thereabout, that he built at the Bermudas: wherein he laboured from morning until night, as duly as any workman doth labour for wages, and built her all with Cedar, with little or no iron work at all: having in her but one boult, which was in the k●son: notwithstanding thanks be to God, she brought us in safety to Virginia, and so I trust he will protect him, and send him well back again, to his hearts desire, and the great comfort of all the company there.  
The Bermuda lieth in the height of two and thirty degrees and a half, of Northerly latitude, Virginia bearing directly from it, West, North west, two hundred and thirty leagues.  
FINIS.