A Token for Mariners    

A TOKEN FOR MARINER'S, CONTAINING Many Famous and Wonderful Instances of God's Providence in Sea Dangers and Deliverances, in Mercifully preserving the Lives of his poor Creatures, when, in Humane Probability, at the Point of Perishing by Shipwreck, Famine, or other Accidents.  
Much Enlarged, with the Addition of many New Relations, one whereof happening this Present Year, and never before Printed. Mostly Attested by the Persons Themselves.  
ALSO The Seaman's Preacher, Being a Sermon on the Right Improvement of such MERCIES. And Prayers for Seamen on all Occasions.  
LONDON, Printed by Hugh Newman, and Sold at his Shop at the Grasshopper in the Poultry. 1698.   

THE Preface to the Reader. And Particularly to Mariners, and other Seafaring-Men.  
THough God's Wonders are every where visible, and his Mercies no where hid from the Eyes of Men; yet more particularly are they Evident to Seafaring Men, whose Business is in the Great Waters, and their Lives Exposed more than others to junumerable hazards and dangers, of Contending Winds and Seas, Rocks, Quicksands, and Inhospitable Shoaers: These, as it were, carry their Lives in their hands, and their best Security is Wholly to Rely on the Providence and Protection of him whose Power the Winds and Waves obey: Seeing there is so small a partition between them and Eternity, the Striking on a Treacherous Rock, over which, many times, the Flattering Water smoothly glides, gives them their Winding-sheet in a Rumpled Wave. Nor is this all their danger, the Springing of a Plank, a Leak not to be found, nor suddenly stopped, Running on a Shoal, or the Falling of a Waterspout, frequently carry with them the same Inevitable Fate, and often makes them at their Wits Ends before they end their Lives; for, a certain Prospect of unavoidable Death must needs be Terrible to Flesh and Blood, and, in a great measure, remove that Constant Presence of Mind that should support their Spirits amidst all Dangers: From this there is no way to secure themselves, but by laying hold on him that is Mighty, and able to save to the utmost, on God, who is a present help at need, whose eyes are in all places, in Heaven and Earth, and in the Great Deep; and those that Cry to him in their Distress, he will surely hear them and Deliver them out of all their Troubles, if they are sincere in heart, and walk uprightly with him. For a Praying- Paul's sake, we find, though the Ship was broken, and perished on a Rock on the Coast of the Island, anciently Melita, now called Malta, all that were in it were saved, when they expected nothing less than to be swallowed up in that dangerous Ocean, as we find it in the Acts, Chap. 27. Therefore the best thing I can Recommend to Mariners, and others that Navigate the Deep, is to have a steadfast Reliance on God in all their Dangers, nay, at all times, for that is the best and surest Anchorhold and Security that can be had recourse to, and therefore I have furnished this Book with many Wonderful and Remarkable Sea-Deliverances, to show them that their hopes are not in vain; for, the Wonders he has already wrought, he will doubtless continue to all that fear and put their Trust in him.  
This Collection is taken mostly from the Mouths of those who have experienced God's Mercy this way, and whose Dangers have been as great as any could be on this side the Grave; yet God, in his Mercy, delivered them out of all. The rest are taken from such Reverend Authors, that their Credit and Integrity is Indisputable, being purposely Written to raise the Minds of Men to Contemplate and Adore the Love and Goodness of the Alwise Creator of the Universe, and may indifferently serve to this end as well at Land as Sea, though chief intended for Seafaring Men, to put them in Mind, when they Read it, of their Danger, and what they may expect in their Danger, from the Death they apprehend in it, if they apply their hearts to true Wisdom. When all help or hopes fail, or seem to be at a loss, then fix your hearts and eyes steadfastly on him who is able to do all things, and to whom nothing is impossible; on him, in whose hands is all the Breath of Life, who can stop the shafts of Death in their winged motion, check the Bellowing Thunder in the Midd-Volley, and turn the Raging of the Winds to a sudden Calm.  
But not to be Tedious in a Preface; I recommend this to you, as a suitable Companion in your Voyages or Travels, nay in your houses, or at all times, that you may know these things are the Lord's doing, though they are Marvellous in our eyes. And so Conclude, subscribing myself,  
Christian Reader, Your Friend and Servant, J. J.   

REMARKABLE SEA Deliverances.  
ONe Major Gibbons, a man well known in new England, a Gentleman of good education, good parts, and of good Conversation, (as the Author hath been credibly informed by them that knew him) was bound upon a voyage to Sea, himself being Supra Cargo with such commodities as those parts of America doth afford, after going out from Boston several days, by hard weather, and contrary winds, the Ships company were much distressed, and through the Continuance of the contrary winds Provisions now begin to fail them; and O how feeble doth Spirit grow, when Bread, the Staff of life faileth! now Hunger becomes more dreadful to them, than the every moment threatening Billows of the devouring Ocean; and they that one while feared drowning, now fears Starving; they are brought to the last meal in the Barrel, and the last oil in the Cruse, and say as she did We will Eat this little that is left, and die: and now when they thought they had eaten the last, what conflicts must they needs have within themselves? who knew not where to have another morsel to fortify the tired and spent Spirits with the constant toil, and hard labour: how they look one upon another, as men already under a Sentence of death; and by one another's looks, Strike terror to one another's Hearts; They look on every side, Psal. 142. 4, 5. (as David says) I looked on my right hand, but there was no man that would know me; Refuge failed me; or perished from me. They look downward, and see nothing but the Belly of destruction opening for them; they look upward, the only, and last refuge, and remedy, in this deplorable estate was, out of the depths, they cried to the Lord,  
But though they look out of the Ship, as Noah did out of his Ark, upon the waters and send forth the Dove of Prayer, that winged Messenger, to Heaven, yet she brings no Olive branch, no Answer; the waters assuage not, the winds calm not, they are like the Prophet's Servant, when he bid him 1 Kings 18. 43. go up now; and look to-wards the Sea, and he went up and looked and said, there is nothing; and this strikes them into doleful and dismal Lamentations; out of which Lamentations, at last Springs up a tragical and sorrowful Motion. The Motion is, that which the Mariners, in Jonahs' Vessel, put in execution, Come let us cast Lots, etc. only with this difference, they cast Lots to find out the delinquent; and these, which of them should die first, to be a Sacrifice for ravenous Hunger to feed upon: Concluding, as he in that case, John. 11. 50. It is expedient for us that one man should die for the People, and that the whole Ships Company perish not. Life being sweet, Skin for Skin, and all a man hath will he give for his life, they at last bring it, through many a sad debate, to a result, they cast the Lott, the disposing of which is of the Lord; one of the Company is arrested by the Lott; here is the Condemned Prisoner: O but where is the Executioner to be found to act his office upon a poor Innocent? is it not death to them now, to think who shall act this bloody part in the Tragedy? But before they fall upon their involuntary Execution, Major Gibbons calls them to Prayer, considering, that in the Mount, the Lord is often seen, and that many times our extremity proves God's opportunity; he also asks the poor man if he was willing to die; but O what a hard Question is that to Answer! He replies, if it might preserve the rest of the lives, he could be the more willing; to which he hath this Answer: All events are in the hands of God, we must not dispute them, to Prayer they go: and, O sure these Prayers must melt hearts of Adamant! and Behold, while they are at it, God sends a visible commentary upon that Scripture: Esay 58. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall Answer; thou shalt Cry, and he shall say here I am: For while they were calling, God was Answering; there leaps a mighty Fish into the Boat; and as it is said of the Whale: that swallowed up Jonah, God prepared a Fish, for the Lord here prepared, or provided a Fish, that a poor creature might not be swallowed up: but O what joy was here at such a token for good! not only it at present relieving and refreshing their huuger, which no Question made them quick Cooks; but when they looked upon the Finger of God in it, sending it as an answer to prayer, they conclude it an happy Omen of their deliverance, and a pledge of approaching mercy: but alas, it is not long before their hearts grow faint again, their Countenances pale, their Spirits sink now as low as they were lifted up high; and now the poor Seamen are like their Ship, one while mounted up in the hopes to Heaven, and another while they are sunk down again in despair as low as hell; they know not now of another cake, another Morsel, they are reduced to their former exigency, which brings them to a resolve to steer in this straight their old course; to Lots they go again the Second time, only they have such an honour for the Providence of God, they will not put him into condemnation, that God hath acquitted; the Lott now falls upon another person, and O now they receive the old trouble, and intestine Combats, how they shall find in their Hearts, to punish one, that never had offended any of them; and while one thinks of it, says he, Alas poor man, what hath he done to deserve this sentence? another cries, Will not this blood cleave to my Conscience another day? though I went to this expedition a Pressed Soldier? another says, for his part he sees no way but death, therefore he cannot take away life, when he sees not any life can be preserved by it: but they are called again to look upward, before they put the Knife to the Throat of this Sacrifice, and they remember the last encouragement to put life into the almost dead-men's Prayers; they pray now with a pledge in their hands, and are ready to tell God, the last time he gave them a Pawn, an Earnest; and O it is not vain to seek the Lord! for lo●, while they are seeking to him, he is sending to them; as the Prayers fly to Heaven, Mercy is dispatched upon the wing from Heaven.  
O turn aside, and see this great sight, while they are praying. Behold a second Answer from above; A great Bird lights and fixes herself upon the Mast, which one in the Company espies, and up he goes and there she stands until he took her with his hand by the wing, & brought her down to the Company; and O what life from the dead is this to them a second time! Sure they will hearken to the voice of the second Sign, if not to the voice of the first; and now that which they hoped by the first Providence (viz) that it was a forerunner of the complete deliverance; Now they are by this second confirmed in the Faith, and now they begin to think (as I can easily imagine) if God will save them out of this distress, O what manner of persons they will become! what manner of lives they will live! what Sacrifices of Thanksgiving will they offer up to God but while they are thus thinking they have no visible hopes, but that it must be a third Miracle that brings them out of this their miserable condition; they have the same disappointments upon them still, only now they divert their Hunger all they can, by telling of, and remembering the Loaves, (as I may say) their experiences in this extremity of theirs, and comforting themselves, that if they come to a third strait, it would (they hoped) be an outlet from their present misery and calamity: They are reduced the third time to the former course and straight, to cast Lots; and when they were to go to the heart-aking work, to put him to death, upon whom the Lott fell, they go to their Old Friend, in a day of Adversity, (to God) by hearty and humble Prayer; And O now they do, as the Prophet's man at the Seaside, look again and again, but alas Master they cry, there is nothing. Prayer is done, concluded, nothing appears; O but as the Prophet's Man looked seven times, so says this good man Major Gibbons, look again, as Jonah, I will look again towards his Holy Temple (says he to one of the Company) Go up to the top, and see what you can espy; and at last he makes a Sail, (viz.) espys a Ship; this puts new life into all their spirits; they bear up with the Vessel, they Man their Boat, they desire, in the manner of perishing humble Suppliants, to Board them, which they are Admitted; the Vessel proves a French Vessel, yea, a French Pirate; Major Gibbons Petitions him for a little Bread to sustain their lives, who had been several days wishing for death, but could not find it in their Extremity; and take the Ship and Cargo. So sweet is life, that all that a man hath will he give for his life; and now behold, God draws forth to these Poor Perishing men his best Wine to the last, nay, turns the Water of Affliction into the Wine of Consolation. The Commander of the Vessel knows the Major, and replies readily and cheerfully, Major Gibbons, not one hair of your head shall perish, nor any of your Ships Company, if it lie in my power either to supply you, or preserve you. O the Wisdom of God that hath ways we know not of, to Relieve in the greatest straits, and cause himself to be seen in the Mount. The Commander of this French Pirate was one that some years before, Major Gibbons had shown signal Kindness to, when his life was in danger at Boston in New England. Thus the Lord appeared a God, hearing Prayers in Extremitys, which appearances are not to be forgotten in succeeding Generations. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the Children of men.  
Secondly. About the year 1636. there arising a storm and tempest of troubles in the Church of Scotland, five Ministers, eminent for Piety, Learning, and their Honourable success in the Ministry, were so hard born under by a prevailing Party imposing upon their Consciences, that they were forced to Embark themselves for America; three of their names were Mr. Levinston, Mr. Mackleland; and Mr. Blaire, with two more whom my Author could not call to mind.  
These good men Say●●d half the Channel over, about 500 Leagues, where they met with great distress of weather, which broke off the Rudder of their Ship, and occasioned a desperate leak to spring in her, which exposed them to eminent danger; but they in this distress endeavour to hang on their Rudder again, but often were they frustrated in their attempt, to a total despair of effecting it. They also laboured with the like unsuccessfulness to find out and stop the leak; this poor Ships Crew had laboured also by pumping, to keep the Ship above water, until all their few hands were feeble, and all their hearts faint; so that as so many despairing persons of life, they cease all endeavours, and yield themselves to death, expecting every moment to be Entombed in the belly of the devouring deeps; during the time of this their great distress, the Ministers kept on their course, as at other times of Worship, (viz) the reading of a Chapter in course, and taking observations from it, with Prayers and Preaching, which they did by turns; at the crisis of this deplorable case, it fell to be the Lott of Mr. Mackleland to perform this Exercise, a man Austeer in his life, reserved in his speech, and of great Piety, who was often observed to let fall many remarkable Prophetical Expressions of future events; the Chapter that at that time came to be read in course by him, was the 3● of Exodus, which he had read all along (until he came to the 12th. verse.) where he made a full stop; the verses run thus.  
And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy Wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought out of the Land of Egypt with great Power, and a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians say, for mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the Mountains, and to consume them from the face of the Earth? Turn from thy severe Wrath, and repent of this Evil against thy People,— upon the reading of these verses over again he declared to them, the Case which Moses was here interceding for, compared with his Expostulation in the 12 verse, did parallel their case, and considering the happy event of that Argument, which Moses used (mentioned in the 14 verse, which runs thus:) and the Lord Repent of the Evil which he thought to do unto his People— he could not but comfortably hope, that they might have the same Effect: Nay he goes further, and his Spirit raised into a peremptory prediction, that he durst assure them from his great Lord and Master, that not one hair of their heads should fall to the ground; after this he went to Prayer, urging God with the same Argument, and then risen up comfortably assuring his steadfastness in believing the same; he advises the Seamen and the Company in the Ship to refresh themselves by taking some meat, the long fasting and hard labour having much enfeebled them. Then he encouraged them to make another Attempt to fasten the Rudder, without which they could not possible make towards any point for shore. He after advised them to clear the ship, as well as they could, from water by pumping, which they did happily Effect, the Leak being stopped providentially of itself— whether it was some noak of a plank started by the destress of weather which occasioned the Leak, and by the surges of the Sea, clapped into the place again, or what it was else could not be known. But however this looks like life from the dead to these poor men, who had received but a little before a sentence of Death in themselves, that they might trust in him who raiseth the Dead. Soon after this, God who had heard in Heaven great Tears and Prayers, Commands the Wind Tack about to the West, and to blow so strong a gale that they were forced to bear up before it, and it continued so long, that it brought them back to the North of Ireland, where they continued some time; although but short, they were very instrumental in the Converting of many souls, which seedplot remains to this day; and soon after they passed into Scotland. This Relation was given by several Ministers of the North of Ireland: also the Reader may take notice, the Author of that Book called the Fullfilling of the Scriptures, pag. 487. mentions this remarkable Providence, though not so largely, with these two additional, but very considerable circumstances; first, That a poor Seaman was made the instrument to preserve the same Vessel, by fastening the Rudder, whose company they had all shunned, others having given it over. Secondly, Several Passengers being Aboard, who shipped themselves for America, upon only external accounts, expecting a fat soil, and outward advantage in that place, and not as the others upon the account of Conscience, to enjoy the purity of Ordinances; they did all dye upon the Sea save one, being five in number. And who is so blind, as cannot see here the out stretched Arm of an Omnipotent God, commanding deliverance for his poor distressed, persecuted, praying, believing Servants, and also for all them that Sailed with them? O who would not Pray at Sea, and trust in him who raises the dead in the saddest of their Extremities and distress! and speaks forth much of the power and goodness of God, calling upon all to trust in him, let the dangers and straits be never so great.  
3. A Vessel of ours about the year 1636. being at Newfound Land a Fishing, being somewhat of the latest in the year, until the Ice came in great flakes; and being ready to hoist Sail for the return home, they sent out in the Boat six of the men to weigh their Anchor; but while they were about it, a sad Providence prevents them, a great flake of Ice interposes between them and their ship, and carries them adrift, so that by all means that they and the ship could use, they could not recover their Vessel again, whereby they were exposed to an inevitable ruin, neither having Food, nor any other Accommodation to keep them warm; they having continued thus three daysand three nights, they began to be Hunger-starved, and accounting themselves all dead men, they began to consult one with another what course to take; they at last, though with great regret and grief, resolve one of them must die to become Food for the rest; each person begged to have it his Lot to die first, to be freed from that torment that they languished under; so that they were forced to determine it by Lot: He upon whom the Lot fell, desired to go to one end of the Boat, there to recommend his soul to God by Prayer, before he died; the rest being in a deep Agony upon apprehension of shedding the blood of one of their Comerades: But while they were sat together, lamenting and imploring God's favour to prevent such a fact according to that they wished and desired: The person separated by Lot for death, died upon the place where he was praying, which in their deplorable Condition occasioned great Joy to the rest, that hereby they were not forced against their wills to take his life; so looking upon this as a good Omen, they proceeded to satisfy their Hunger's upon the dead body: the Boat was still A-drift, not frozen up; so that by that time, their Food was spent, they were brought ashore many Leagues to the Norward of New-England, where the five landed alive, where the poor Barbarians did commiserate them, and help them as they could; three of them died with the distress they had been in, the other two made a shift to get to New-England, and so at last, by a good hand of God upon them, came to their Habitations in the West of England, having both lost their heels with the extremity of the cold in the Boat. This Relation my Author had from one of these two Seamen, with whom he came afterwards a Passenger from Ireland, to whom he shown his heels so lost.  
4. A small Vessel, about 45 Tun, the Master's name Philip Hangare, coming upon the Coast of New-England, they suddenly sprang a leak, and so foundered: There were in this poor miscarrying Vessel 18 Seamen and Passengers; 12 of the men got into the Longboat, and as that was suddenly brought to their minds in this surprise, they threw into their Boat also some small matters of Provisions, but they were wholly without fire: These 12 men at that time of the year about Michaelmas, (and as Paul said in his Voyage, Sailing was become dangerous) Sailed five hundred Leagues, and were to a Miracle preserved all that time in this small Boat, five weeks; but it pleased the Lord, who appears in our straits most, to send them great relief, by causing some flying Fish to fall into the Boat, which they eat raw, and were unto them more acceptable than the greatest rarities and dainties at another time; God's Providence now proving the Caterer, they catched a Shark, and that Ravenous Fish that uses to prey upon men, now becomes a prey to these poor distressed Creatures; but they were glad of food in the want of fire, and have an heat in their Stomaches, to eat that raw, and digest at this time what would have made them sick at other times; but alas, another want they had, was drink as well as fire, but they were forced to open the belly of this Shark, and suck his blood for drink; at last, that God who hath a desire to the work of his own hands, giveth them hopes to release them out of this insupportable misery, by letting them come to a discovery of Land in the West-Indies; but alas, they were so weak, that when they came ashore, one or two of them died; but most of them lived to declare the works of the Lord. This the Author had from one of the 12 that were thus miraculously preserved, but since cast away at Sea.  
5. Captain Ionas Clark, of New-England, going for Virginia, the Vessel was Cast away in a strange amazing manner, about two hours before day, among the Indians where the Shipwrecked men lay ashore in great fear; but three days after they thought to get their ship off again; to which end the Master, with some others, went into the boat, they came threescore Fathom from the shore, where there arose a great Sea, and broke in upon them; but the second Sea came and turned the boat up; four men under water, all were drowned, but Captain Clark, who was kept under water by one of the men, until his breath was gone, but then God appeared, and set him at liberty from him in a most Miraculous way, and enabled him to swim to the shore; they that were alive now, were in great straits and perplexities, not knowing what to do, but yet some of their eyes were up to God; at last they Unanimously resolve to Travel, and when they had Traveled one night, and part of a day, meeting with many Swamps and thick places, so that all hope failed them of going along, so they stood still as (wayfaring men) astonished, not knowing what course to take; and though before they were afraid of any Indians, now they were glad to pray to the Lord for the sight of an Indian, which in this extremity and perplexity, within half an hour the Lord was pleased to grant: The Indian was all alone, which was observable also; when they got to him, they asked the way to the English, and they did persuade him by entreaty to go along with them, but within one hours' time, he carried them to a Town of the Indians, which did sadly fright and amaze them; but they still looked up to the Lord to help and save them; and at last they got to the English, and so were preserved.  
This Relation the Author had from Captain Clarks own hand, a person of known Godliness and Integrity.  
6. The last Providence called to mind a strange and stupendious passage of a Godly Gentlewoman, who in the first breaking forth of the Rebellion in Ireland, was forced to fly for her life, with some other persons in her Company; especially three Children, one of them upon her Breast: But alas, these poor trembling Travellers had not gone long before they were striped Naked by the Irish, who to admiration spared their lives; but passing on to the foot of a River, others met them and would have cast them into the River but this Godly Woman not being dismayed, asked a little liberty to Pray, and as she lay on frozen ground Naked, she got a little resolution not to go on her own feet to so unjust a death; upon which having called her, upon her resolution, they dragged her by the heels along the ground, with the rest of the Company; she turns upon them, and on her knees says, You should I am sure be Christians, and men I see you are; in taking away our miserable lives you do us a pleasure; but know, as we never wronged you, nor yours, you must die also yourselves, and one day give an account of this Cruelty to the Judge of Heaven and Earth. Suddenly upon which, an Irish Priest says, Let us not take their lives, but we will put them in this Island of the Lake; a Boat being at the River, all the eight Naked, and without Meat, are turned into that Island, where after four days staying, some of the Company died with Hunger and Cold, but not this Woman, nor any of her Children; a day after, the two Boys found the Hyde of a Beast which had been killed at the root of a Tree, which they and the Mother endeavoured to cast over them; then ●ying upon the Snow, the next day a little ●oat goes by, to whom she calls for God's ●ake to take her out, but they refused, ●eing Irish; she desired a little Bread, but ●hey said they had none; she begs a Coal ●f Fire, which she obtained, for they had ●ome fuel in the Boat, and thus with ●ome fallen Chips, made a fire; and the ●oys taking a piece of the Hyde, laid it ●pon the Coals, and began to gnaw the ●eather; but alas, without an extraordinary Divine support, what could this do? Thus they lived ten days without any viable supplies, and that good Woman pro●est it was by Faith and Joy in God she ●iv'd; nor had she any Bread but Ice and ●now, nor any Drink but Water, but she thought God put more substance in it, and ●ound it as it were clammy. The next ●ay a Boat carried her out to the side of ●he Band-water, where yet she had been ●ost, but that she could not suffer to see her Children die in her sight; and therefore 〈◊〉 though the two Boys were young, and so starved, that they had no strength) she ●ressed them to go out of her sight, under pretence of seeking some fire; the poor Children had not gone far until they saw too or 3 great Dogs eating a man who had ●een killed; the Children were not afraid of the Dogs, (who needed not fear any thing but to live in such a Condition) and one of them came running, and leapt upon one of the Children, without doing him the least hurt, and would run a little before, and then tarry until the Children come up, and so led them on where an House whence Smoke appeared, which was an Irish man's, Protected by the English in Antrum, by which means they were marvellously pleased, and the Mother sent for, and succoured by a party from Antrum. Although this Providence be not a Sea-deliverance, yet it is a remarkable preservation from danger by Water, and Hunger at Land.  
7. In the first settling of the Bohemi● Islands off the Cape of Florida, about the year 1642. there were at that present great troubles in the Burmoudas, one Captain Sale who had been Governor the year before, comes for London, and here informing some of his Acquaintance and Persons of Worth and Estate, how things then stood, they undertake fo● him, and got him a Ship, and all things necessary for the discovery of these Island● which he had informed them of, s● they proceeded to Burmoudas, whe●● they took in several Passengers, Captains Sale being Chief, and Captain Lane and his Family which came from London with him as his Assistant in the management of the Design, so they in pursuit of the Voyage, came to an Island called Cicatra, ●he lay down in the plats, where they could not at present find an Harbour. So they sent out their Shallop upon a discovery, which upon Return informed them of a better place to Ride in.— But sending out the Shallop again upon a discovery, before she Returned, there arose a dreadful Storm that carried her immediately upon the Rocks, and staved her, with very much difficulty most of the People were saved, and some Provisions. Then were they Reduced to very great straits formidable to flesh and blood, a Barren Island, no inhabitants, no likelihood of Relief, little Provisions left; in this great strait most of them resolved to travel up to the wester end of the Island and there to abide. (Captain Lane and his Family, and his Son who was his Lieutenant) they Resolved to seek for some kind of Provisions, and so stayed on the Island. But Captain Sale and one Mr. Bounly who had been Master of the Ship, and some other Seamen, and one Mr. Shadwel; in all eight, Resolved to go to Virginia, and took what Provisions they could get, which was one Shark; but before they made to the Land they were in very great wants; For from this Island from whence they departed to Virginia, was three hundred Leagues: in their now great Extremity, Providence cared for them, so that they got another Shark, and were glad to eat him Raw. They were a 11 days going to Virginia, and the Boat a very little one, that they could scarcely Steer in her for fear of danger. Yet the Lord in this deep Distress, made his Arm bare for their Salvation, and brought them safe to a place called Nuse mum; to one Mr. Richard Brunkets House, where they were curtiously Entertained; and after the Relation upon what account they were put to these Hardships and Necessities, Captain Sale had a Vessel provided laden with necessaries, to go for Cicatra, to Relieve those they had left there in such Distress, and they arrived there. And O now what Comfort must this be, after such long wishing and gradual Dying, to see that there was now Hopes of Life brought to them; but several of them were starved to Death before their Arrival. Captain Lane is now sent to fetch some Provisions who had been in unspeakable Extremity. He came down in a little Boat, his Son also the Lieutenant and two Servants, but when they had gotten in their Provision, and going home with hopes of a new Life; Behold, the stupendious providence of God, all of a sudden Death creeps in and Arrests them. For in a narrow place where the Tide runs swiftly, the Boat is sunk, all are drowned but one man, who carried the desolate Widow the sad Tydings● what an unwelcome Messenger this was you may easily conjecture; about three months after arrived a Vessel to them (the master of her my Author,) and so Mrs. Lane, her Son and Daughter, Maid Servant and Man Servant, where all brought up about forty miles, where they were entertained by my Author for six weeks, and gave an account of some notable passages of God's Providence in preserving them. Worthy never to be forgotten! Her Husband and the men went out to see what they could get for 〈◊〉 every Day, and they had for the most part just for the Day, and she told my Author that she as a tender hearted Mother would lay something by for her younger Children; but she observed that the next Day they never got any thing.  
And thus Providence trained them up in the School of Faith; but further she gave an account of one Remarkable thing, In the last day of the week, upon a time it proved a very stormy Day, and they being abroad a hunting for some support, could get nothing. The Husband and Son comes home very much troubled, and the men that were gone into the Woods they could get nothing; and they being very much troubled, one took up a Resolution not to come home, knowing their Captain would not suffer them to go and hunt on the Lord's Day; on the other hand they thought he would wonder what was become of them, and fear lest evil had befallen them; so they altar their Resolution to come home, but empty of any Relief; this very Evening before the Sabbath in this perplexety of thoughts, there flies over their Heads three grey Geese; a wonder it was for such Geese that were never seen before nor after. O says she to her Husband, that we had some of them against to morrow! observing they lighted in a Bottom, she acquaints her Husband, he says they have no shot left. O says she, here is a Porringer, melt it or cut it into pieces, which he did for expedition, and charged his Peice, and at the first shot killed them all,— These things, and many more my Author had from her own Mouth, after her marvellous Preservation. O that men would Praise the Lord, for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men.  
8. We have a very wonderful Deliverance recorded, an honest poor man in Maulden in Essex, one Gregory Crow, who with his man and boy, was in his Boat going to fetch Fullers-Earth; but by the way meeting with a Stom his Boat was driven upon a bank of sand, and there sunk; The men were glad to hang upon the Mast, but poor Crow seeing his New-Testament in the water, which he prized highly, caught it up, and took it into his Bosom; the tide being gone, they were left upon the sand, at least ten miles from land; now in this great Distress they made their Prayers to the Lord, that he would send some means of Deliverance, For now within half an hour it would be flood, but in this little time before Flood, they found a Chest wherein was five pounds six Shillings eight pence, but honest Crow cast it into the Sea again saying, If the Lord will please to save our lives he will provide us a little food; and so they went again up the Mast, where they to Admiration hung by the Arms and Legs for ten hours together, only the Boy was so weary, and beaten with the Waves that he fell off, and was drowned; now their fears increase upon them, and they know not what to do. But Crow advises his man to cut down the Mast and when the Flood comes again, to fit upon it, and so, says he, it may please God to drive us to some Ship; this Council was taken, they commit themselves to God upon this Mast, and thus continued Tuesday Night, Wednesday, and Wednesday Night; in which time the man was so tired out with Hunger, Watching, and Cold, that he died; now was Crow left alone in this sad and deplorable Condition, who prayed now the more earnestly for some Succour and Relief, but durst not Sleep, lest the Sea should beat him off the Mast; and when this distressed miserable object was almost spent, his flesh sodden with Sea water, and his eyes almost closed up with the Salt, now in his Extremity the Lord makes it his opportunity, and s●●eps in by his Providence, persents a Ship going for Antwerp: (observe here the Finger of God:) The Wind not being favourable was driven out of the way, and espying something a far off in the Sea, but supposeing it to be some Fisher-boy steered from it. Crow seeing this, held up his Cap and shaked it over his head, whereby at length they were moved to go to him, and so they took him in; when he came into the Ship, being half dead, careful of his New Testament, he plucked it out of his Bosom and gave it to some to dry. They in the Ship were careful of him, and with great difficulty recovered him, and carried him with them to Antwerp, where the fame of his being miraculously delivered, drew many to see him, and relieve him with necessaries. Fox's Book of Martyrs.  
9 A Ship of Holland being driven against her will, came to a Place called Zembla, where the Pole is elevated Seventy Six degrees; they among many delays, and great dangers, scarce reached the Aurange Islands; for now they were set fast in a Consolidated body of continued Ice, which threatened them every moment; at last being reduced to their ultimate hope, they resolve to return the same way they came, but now they find the Ship quite frozen up, not far from shore, and now they think they should winter in Zembla and wait for a better Season, wherefore taking out Board's and Planks, they built for themselves, and their Stuff, a poor shelter, and by a good Providence, the Tide had thrown up a good quantity of Timber, they not knowing from whence it came, it proved a great advantage to them during their abode; here they had continual fights with Bears, which sometimes were driven away with making great outcries, other while with Shot● they found their flesh unwholesome for food. (For in this place the Maritine wild Beasts, are the food to the wild Beasts of the land) the fat of the Bears they made use of to burn for lights in the night; these poor creatures were at last, after all other Humane Benefits, left by the Sun, in this Barren Country, and left amongst none but wild Beasts: The vast Mountains of Snow, with great difficulty they remove, lest the Habitation should be overwhelmed, and if at any time they went forth, their jaws were so benumbed they could scarce recover their former heat; now the Bears in the dark, being dull of fight did not venture out to disturb them, but multitudes of Foxes, which they took in Traps, and made of them both Victuals and Raiment; and yet after all these dangers and difficulties God preserved them, though indeed some of them died, they were 12 of them: The chief of them was one Jacob Hamskerk, who returned afterwards to Amsterdam. Gro●ius in his Annals.  
10. In the year 1616 a flemming named Pickman, well known in England and Holland, for the art he had in getting out of the Sea, the great Guns of that Spanish Fleet, that was forced upon the Coast of Ireland and Scotland, in the year 1588. coming from Dronthem in Norway, laden with Board's, was overtaken by a Calm, during which, the current of the Sea carried him on a Rock or a little Island towards the extremity of Scotland, where he was in some danger of being cast away; to avoid a wrack, he commanded some of his men to go into the shallop, and to tow off the Ship: these having done so, would needs go upon a certain Rock to seek for eggs, but as soon as they were got up into it, they espied a man, whence they imagine there were others lay there about, and that he had made an Escape thither to avoid some Pirates which might Surprise their Ship, so that they made all the hast they could to the Shallop, and returned to the Ship; but the Calm continuing, and the current of the Sea driving the Vessel against the Island, they were forced to get into the Longboat and Tow her off again; the man they saw before, was in the mean time come to the brink of the Island, and made signs to them with his hands, entreating them to come nearer; and falling on his Knees, and joining his Hands together, he begged Relief from them; at last coming near the Island, they saw something more like a Ghost than a living Person, a body stark Naked, black, hairy, of a meager and deformed Countenance, hollow and distorted Eyes, which raised such Compassion in them, that they proffered to take him into their Boat; at last with some difficulty they took him in; they found upon the Island no Grass nor Trees, nothing for Food, nor any shelter, but the ruins of a boat, wherewith he had made himself an Hut, under which he might be covered from Rain and injuries of the Wether; when they came to ask him who he was, and how he came into that un-inhabited place, he replied to them he was an English Man, and that a year before he was to go from England to Dublin in Ireland in the Passage-Boat, and that they were taken by a French-Pyrate, who by a Storm that immediately arose, was forced to let go the Passage-Boat, left us to the mercy of the Waves, which carried us between Ireland and Scotland, into the main Sea, expecting to be cast away every minute, as at last we were: For the Bark being split against the Rock, where you took me in, I escaped with one of my Comrades into the Island, in a more wretched condition than if swallowed up by the Sea; who then had been delivered out of the Extremities we were in for want of meat and drink; of some of the boards of our Boat we made the Hutt you saw, and we took some Sea-mews which we set a drying in the Wind and Sun, and so eat them raw; we found also in the crevices of the Rock, by the Seaside, some Eggs: Thus were we kept from starving; but what we thought most insupportable, was Thirst; for there was no Water, but what fell from Heaven; we lived thus six weeks, comforting one another, and finding some ease in our common misfortune, till that being left alone, it began to grow insupportable to me; for one day, awaking in the morning, and missing my Comrade, I fell into such a Despair, that I had some thought of casting myself headlong, and so put a final period to that Affliction, whereof I had but endured the one half while I had a Friend suffering with me: I know not what became of him, but I am of that opinion that he fell into the Sea, seeking for Eggs; I left with him my Knife, with which we killed the Sea-Doggs, and the Mews, upon which we lived; so I was forced to get out of my Hut a great Nail, which I made a shift to sharpen upon the Rock, that it served me for a Knife: I was also forced to lad a little stick, with a little Sea-dogg fat, and put it out of a crevice of my Hut, and so got some Mews to keep me from starving: I lived in this condition and solitude Eleven Months, and was resolved to end my days in it, when God sent you to deliver me out of the greatest misery that ever man was in, and this Seaman after this misery and miraculous preservation, lived to return to England. Ambasadors' Travels.  

A Remarkable Providence of God in wonderfully preserving of Eleven or Thirteen poor distressed men's lives.  
11. In the year 68 a Catch Sailed from Salome in New-England for the Barbadoss; and when they came into the Latitude of 35. it began to look like foul weather, so they took in their Topsail, and because it was towards night, they struck down the Main sail, and Rafed it; and all this time there was but a little wind (which was remarkable, if the ensuing story be observed) but still it looked like bad weather; so they sent up one to Tallow though Mast, and made no great haste to set sail; the man at the Top thinks he sees some black thing float upon the Sea, and looking upon it very fixtly, he conceives it to be a Boat, and so calls to the men below, so they hastened to hoist Sail and make towards it; and when they came to them, there was a Longboat with a 11 or 13 men, (my Author could not absolutely remember the just number) which poor distressed Creatures, had been bound for Virginia; and the ship in which they were, proved very Leaky, and so exceedingly increased, that in a very little time, she was ready to sink; so all hands hastened to get out the boat, but the Master stepped into the  to fetch a Compass, and took some Canvas, a Sayl-needle and twine which he thought might be useful to them in their Need and Extremity, but while ●his poor industrious man was endeavouring to be useful to some other men's lives, he was in danger to lose his own; for the boat was put off, and the ship sinking, so he cries to them in this distress, if they would leave him, and let him there Perish; so they came back, and took him in; they had in their boat a Capstone-bar, which they made use of for a Mast, and the piece of Canvas for a Sail, and so Sailed afore the wind, and had no kind of Food; and now comes dreadful and inexpressible distress upon them, making them wish for death itself to give them a deliverance, now all hopes of Relief failed them; thus they continued five days, some grew Lame, others Feeble, and all much disheartened by despair of Life; and now upon the 6th. day, they had concluded to cast Lots for their lives, who should die to preserve others; and they put their Resolution into Execution, and that poor Creature, upon whom the Lott fell, begs for time; but alas, what will a Reprieve be in this case, where there is no hope of Relief; but O what difficult work is it to die? what a straight was here? Live he could not, and Dye he could not; well, a little time is deferred, and behold a wonder-working God appears now for him, and for them all; before night, they espied this Catch, which raised them all to Admiration; but they had fears in this distress, that the Catch did not see them; but when they perceived the Catch made to them, O what a new life did it put into these dying men; so they all got safe Aboard: And see here the goodness of God: In one hour after there arose a most dreadful Storm which continued for forty hours, and all of them safely Arrived at Barbadoes.  
The Master's name of the Catch was Thomas Woodberry of Salom. This the Author had from a very known person of Integrity and Godliness, now living at Salom.  
12. In the year 1606. in the Wars betwixt the Netherlands and the Spaniards, upon the Spanish Ocean, fell out this observable and remarkable action, taken notice of by Grotius, in his Annals of the Low-Country Wars. Admiral Hauteen being sent to intercept the Spanish Fleet, coming from America and the Indies, he had with him four and twenty Vessels; but of these, six were beaten back by Tempests; soon after Frasciardo, with eight great Galleons, having a prosperous Gale, fell upon them unprovided, and e'er they were ware; but the Galleys that were with him, not being driven by the Wind, kept by the shore; but one of them being grappled with a ship of Zealand, that was next the Admiral, so affrighted the rest, that as soon as they saw it, they in the very beginning of the Night, Retreated with all haste. Hauteen thus left by his Companions, being a man of an Undaunted spirit, for two whole days did not leave off the Fight, though most of his men were in that time lost; but with his torn ship, casting off all fear of danger, protracted the Victory; but after he saw no hopes of Relief, and that the Waves poured in upon him, that none of them might come alive into the Enemy's hands, at once they Unanimously agreed upon a Resolute and Terrible action: For kneeling down upon their Knees, they like dying, but desperate men, beg of God, that he would please to pardon in that they sought to shun the Mockeries and Cruelties of the Spaniards, by that sad and lamentable death; so they set fire to the Gun powder, by which blow threescore men were killed, two half dead lived a little while, being taken by the Spaniards with wonder, beholding their dreadful Countenances, and their words, with their strange Resolution and Obstinacy in Death.  
13. In the year 1607. about the time when the Plantations of Virginia began to be a little settled by King James, some Britain's went to Guyana, but a dangerous Sedition arose in the Voyage, and the Ship being lost, part of the Company remained in the Island, where continually vexing the Barbarians with their unkind usage, they, at last, were set upon by War as Enemies; by force of which, and the want of Victuals, they committed themselves to the Sea in a Boat made only of an Hollow Tree; there these poor distressed Creatures were tossed with continual Tempests, betwixt Despair and Hope of Life; but at last they were driven upon the Rocks, after great misery endured by them in their little Boat for Ten days together; and now their danger was leslessened, for here they must fall into the hands of the Spaniard, who pardoned them, in regard they came not to those Parts of their own accord, but by the stress of Wether. Thus were these poor distressed Men saved and preserved, when all hope of being saved was taken away.  
14. The Phoenix Frigate, in the time when Captain Wheston Commanded her, and Mr. May was Master, being Commanded to carry some Persons of Quality from Rye to Deep in France; the Captain and several of the Gentlemen that belonged to the Frigate was Ashore; the Captain sends the Longboat Aboard, and Ordered the Frigate to weigh and come to sail, and stand too and fro off in the Bay, and he would come out in his Pinnace; and the Gentlemen that was with him, were namely Sunebank Giles his Chirurgeon, Mr. Goodwin his Chaplain, Mr. Perkins his Barber and Gentleman, Mr. Richards, and some three more Gentlemen Reformadoes, Abraham Car Coxswain, and about 12 Seamen for his Crew, that set out of Rye, and crossed the Bay to meet the Frigate under Sail; and when they came near, being a good way a-head, waved to the Frigate to keep her way, and not to come a please for her, which she did with a fresh Topsail Gail of Wind, till she came up with the Pinnace, and then the Cousin would alaid her Aboard of the Larboard-side; but the Captain supposing himself far enough a-head, Commanded him to shout a-head of her, and lay her aboard of the Starboard-side, which he assuming to do, the Ship giving a saw, and having fresh way, the Pinnace was not past, but the Cotwater of the Ship cut the Pinnace in the middle, and run right over, that she lay in a moment of time in 100 pieces, and all the Men floating for their lives; in the interim of which time, with a Cry, they gave a leap, in which leap, the Captain catcht hold o● the Rails of the Head, Mr. Richards on the Captain's heels, Mr. Giles the Chirurgeon on Richard's heels, Mr. Goodwin on Giles' heels, and some other person on his; so that with that spring, or leap, no less than 4 or 5 providentially catcht about one the others heels or middle, as Boys when at playing Truss; and in hoisting in the Captain, they preserved 4 or 5 more with him; the Cousin sunk down, and brought some of the Tallow of the Lower part of the ship on his , and came up again at the Stern, where he was taken up by the Seamen; some by swimming, others by the assistance of the Oar, and pieces of the Boat, by God's blessing kept them from drowning, till the Longboat took them all up, except the Captain's Barber Mr. Perkins, whom it seems had sunk, it's thought his last time; but Providence so ordered it, that the Man in the main Channel having the hand Led, there fell a chrockle in the dipsey-Line, and in that very interim, the Lead fell in the very place where the Barber was sunk, and the chinckle of the Line fell about the Barber's Fingers, hitcht about his Ring, and so providentially fastened itself, so that as the Man in the Scenes haling up his Lead, found it to come heavier than it used to do; admiring, at last up comes the Barber fastened in the chinkle by his Ring, which the Spectators amazed at, immediately took hold of him, and pulled him into the Frigate, with his Eyes fixed, and Teeth set, and little appearance of Life; but by the blessing of God on the immediate means used, and care of him, he soon came to himself, and recovered; so that notwithstanding this shrewd disaster, which might have proved fatal to all, or most of them, yet there was not one Man of them all miscarried, but was recovered to their health again, as Monuments of God's Mercy. For truth of this, many of the Men are alive at this day; the Chirurgeon now living in Grays-Inn-Lane; and at the very interim of time I was then aboard the said Frigate, and was not only an Eye-spectator, but an Instrument to help in preserving of some of them, and therefore may Aver it to be Truth. Ezekiel Fog.  
15. About Ten years ago, in the Island of Barbados, there did arrive one Mr. John Blackleach (from New England) a very honest Man, who gave account, that in his then Voyage, his Son being Master of the Vessel, and himself Merchant, their Men at Sea did Mutiny, at which occasion he and his Son was forced to stand on their Guard for some time, casting his care on the Lord: But whilst under this trouble, being in the Long-Reach, in or near the Latitude of Barbadoes, they all did see a Great Ship which stood toward them; and while they were Looking on her, to see how fast she came towards them (she being pretty near) vanished away, which struck the Men with Great Fear, and made them humble themselves to the Good Old Man, and desired his Prayers for them.  
16. In the Month of November, 1669, the Ship Prosperous of Bristol, ●ailed from thence, being bound for Galloway in Ireland, but was forced into Bruts-Bay in Cornwall, where the Ship broke in pieces, six Persons being Drowned, others wonderfully cast on Shore and bruised; amongst the rest John Denny (a Skinner of Bristol) was cast a Shore by a Great Sea, being much bruised and almost Dead; and was by some stripped naked, and laid amongst the other Dead Folk that were taken up, being only covered with some Straw or Rubbish. But by Providence, an Old Man looking on the Dead People, did perceive some Life in the said Denny, and the Lord opened his heart, that he stripped himself of his own Shirt and some , and put on him, and took him from amongst the Dead: through his Labour and Love, by God's blessing, the said Denny is now well and liveth at Bristol. This my Author had from John Denny's own Mouth.  
17. In the Year 1671, I being at Boston in New-England, I oft went to see an Acquaintance of mine, one Abraham Derby, a sober honest Man, a Master of a Vessel, who relates the following Story, which he attesteth to be Truth. That some few years ago, he the said Derby being Master of a small Catch, was bound from Barbadoes to Virginia, he having an Irish Woman, a Servant, on● Board, to be delivered in Virginia, but she was a vile Person, and having often offended, at last was punished, for which she said they should not carry her to Virginia, though the Wind was very fair, and carried them in sounding of the Caps of Virginia: That they had bend one Cable to the Anchor, thinking soon to get in; but she still said they should not: then the Wind sprang up of a sudden, in a mere fret, which forced them many days off, and their Provisions near spent (it being, if I mistake not, in Mar●h) than the Wind came fair again, a fresh Jail, and they before it, in hopes to gain their passage; but on a sudden there came a Great Sea that cast the Vessel on her side (she having but little beside Ballast in her) that her Goods and things in hold shifteth. But it pleased God they clapped the Helm a weather, and she wore, and all hands as could in the Hold brought her to rights, and the Wind continued fair till they came near the place that it took them short before, and then took them as before, that they were forced off again for many days, having then but two or three pieces of Beef, and no Bread, nor (I think) above a Gallon of fresh Water: But after some time the Wind came fair, they making Sail to get back, it being fine weather, there came a great Sea and laid her down again, and carried her Mast away, and a part of the Partners that hold the Mast, that as she lay on one side, the Sea rushed into her; but the Master with his Bed and Rug stopped the force, till it pleased God they had shifted the things in the hold and brought her to rights again, (now these poor Souls were left as a Wrack in the Ocean, and neither Victuals nor Drink, but strong Water and Sugar, to help them) but finding a Spar or Oars, in the hold, made shift to get out a small Sail (I had like to have omitted, that whilst they had any Food, they would have given this wicked Woman a part, but she would not Eat any thing) than it pleased God to send a fine Gale, and they got on the Cost of New-England, and sounding, round about forty Fathom Water, and very calm; then they chopped to an Anchor there, and that Night got two or three Fish, wherewith they Refreshed themselves (but the Woman would not Eat) but could get no more: and finding a fine Gale, weighed Anchor, and thought to have got within Cape-Cod, not being far of; but the Wind came fresh against them, and drove them off again to Sea, and than 'twas ●alm; and about that time the Woman ●ad fasted about 21 Days, and yet could Curse and Damn, and say, She should not go Ashore; but that Night the Master and some others being on the Deck, spied a Great Black Thing Rise out of the Sea, to their thinking, much bigger than the Catch, the Sea being Light all about, and the Woman in the Hold made a Great Noise; and when she had given a Great Screach or Groan, this Great Black Thing Vanished, the Water seeming like Fire all round, and made a Great Sea and Noise: And when the Men came to themselves, they looking for the Woman, found her Dead; and after they had ●●ung her overboard, they had a brave Wind and Wether, and got safe to Plymouth in New-England.  
18. At New-England, in the year 1671, 〈◊〉 spoke with John Grafting of Sal●m, and others of good Repute, who told me, not ●ong before the said Grafting suffered Shipwreck amongst the Leward Islands, 〈◊〉 the Name of the Place I forget) the Ship or Catch being broken to pieces, himself ●nd Mate, and one or two were cast with ●he Sea ashore amongst the Rocks most wonderfully, not knowing of each other till by Providence they met amongst the Rocks, it being an Island without Inhabitants (if I mistake not) and they bruised yet the Lord provided for them in a wonderful manner, and not only there, but in their getting off that place, and bringin● them safe to their Friends and Relations in Salem in New-England; where Praise● was returned to the Lord, who wonderfully preserves the Children of Men. hope this ere long will be enlarged from the Party himself.  
19 I being well Acquainted with on● Jeffery Howard a Mariner, who is a Man of Good Repute, he told me as followeth● That about Twelve or Fourteen year● since, he was coming through the City o● Salisbury, he was looking on the Stree● Rivers, and spies something move on th● Water; but looking earnestly saw it to have Life, steps in and got it out, and found it to be a Manchild, only inrapt a● it came into the World from its Mother and it was put to Nurse, and now is become a fine Youth.  
20. At Bristol, a place well known, no● many years ago, a Man fell into the River● near about the marsh, and not being seen, was carried down with the tide someway; and, I think, could not swim, but lay as dead on the water, driving with the tide, but by providence, some being in the meadow going to work, or coming from the Lymekils, Being by the water side playing with a Spaniel, saw something floating, slung in things to make the dog fetch it; and the dog accordingly took hold of the man by the , and brought him a shore; and finding some symptoms of Life, took care of him; and he came to Life, and dwells in New- Bristol. This I had from the Spectators.  
21. In the year 1671 one Mr. Savage, Master of the Society Catch, bound from Bristol to Boston in New-England, met on the coast of N. E. the Ship called the George of Bristol, being in distress, spoke with them; the ship having sprang a lcak, their men tired and spent with Pumping; the Master and all his Company went on Board the Catch with speed, and soon after the ship sunk.  
This I had from Mr. Savage and other Passengers with him, who affirmed it to be truth. David Fogg.  
22. Captain John Trankmore, Commander of a Ship belonging to Apsom, near Exeter; in one of his Voyages of late years, being at Sea in a dark night, and foul weather, fell foul of another ship unexpectedly, not then knowing what each other were, but a Sea parting them again; in the interim Captain Trankmore's ship, shipped a great Sea which washed the said Trankmore overboard; and another Sea, cast, or have him into the other ship, which fell out to be an Englishman, bound for Plymouth: Thus in the dark, the Wind and Sea parts the said ship, without having knowledge of each other, Captain Trankmore concluding that his own ship was foundered and all his men Lost, and God had wrought a wonder of mercy in his Preservation; but so it fell out, that one Samuel Snytal, who was his Apprentice, had obtained such knowledge of the Art of Navigation, and his Master being gone, and as they supposed drowned, being washed overboard, was necessitated to improve his skill, and by God's blessing, he carried the ship safe home to Apsom, where Arriving, although they had made 〈◊〉 good Voyaye, yet the sorrow for the los● of the Master, ●at up all the Comforts and Smiles a Prosperous Voyage otherwise would have made; but so Providence ordered it, that about the same time, three or four days after, the other ship Arrives safe in Plymouth; where the said Trankmore Landed, very sorrowful and dejected, having (as he supposed) lost his Ship (wherein he was deeply concerned as an Adventurer himself) and all his Men; as he was in the Morning walking on the Hope at Plymouth very Dejectedly, he Providentially meets with one of his Executors, or Apsom Neighbours, who looks him in the Face with Astonishment, knowing him well, and yet believing the Report of his being dead, or lost, in amaze Salutes him with these Expressions; What, Captain Trankmore? who replies, A poor Captain; having lost my Ship richly Laden, and after a good Voyage, with all my Men, not a soul saved but myself Whom, by a Miracle, God wrought Salvation for, (as before-Recited) giving the Gentleman, his Neighbour, an account of the Providence towards him; when, after a little pause, his Friend embraces him, and with admiring of the Providence, bids him be of good heart, for his Ship and all his Company was well and safe Arrived at Apsom; for his Man Samuel Snytal had brought her safe home, and all the Sorrow and cry there, was for the loss of him. Which reply, struck the said Trankmore in as much amaze on the other hand, being almost Incredulous of truth, till his Friend positively affirming it, and then consulting his own Mercy, saw, and was made sensible, there was no Mercy too great for God to work, and from thence took heart, recovering himself, went home rejoicing, where he found his expectation answered, and a welcome given him by all persons with him concerned.  
For the truth, I have heard it acknowledged by Captain Trankmore's own mouth at my House in Bristol; and farther, the same Snytal was my Predecessor's Son, and I have heard his Mother-in-law speak of it to several, and hath affirmed it to me for a truth.  
23. The Bristol Frigate, when Captain Fenn was Commander, being in the Straits in Chase of Captain Popoctiene, a Spanish Knight of Malto, who at that time our Squadron took and brought Prisoner to the Tower; in pursuit of which Chase, the Wind began to rise, the Captain Commands presently to get the Top-gallant sails abroad; and the Yards being not then Aloaft, three Men run up presently, where one stood on the top of the Shroud, under the Main Top-mast-cross-trees, a second stood a top of the Cross-trees, and the other stood by the Top-gallant-mast on the Cape, at the Main Top-mast-head; all expediting their work in getting the Top-gallant-sail abroad; at which time the wind freshened, and carried our Main-top-mast by the board; in which disaster the Man that was lowermost, and least in danger, fell overboard and was drowned; and the other two which were in Greatest danger (one of their Names was Roger Dennis, under the Denomination of a Quaker) instead of being bruised and their bones broken all to pieces, which the eye of Reason could not otherwise imagine by such a fall; they both fell forward upon the Bunt of the Main-course, and one catches hold of the Main Buntlines', and the other of the Leech-lines, and slack of a bowling. and so both comes down to the Deck, and neither of them in the least prejudiced.  
For the truth of this, my Author was then Aboard the said Frigate, and was an Eye-witness of this Providence.  
24. An Account of two Ships bound for Newfoundland, from some part in the West of England, who by distress of Wether lost Company; some days after being fair weather, one of the Ships sprang a Leak, and foundered in the Sea, where every Soul perished, except one Old Man, who had lashed himself on the main Hatch, and committed himself to the Mercy o● the Sea and God's Providence, where he was floating three days and three nights; in which time, about the middle of the second day, the Devil assuming the shape of a Mare-maid, starts up before him, and bids him be of good heart, for, i● he would but make a Contract with him he would engage a Deliverance for him in 24 hours; the Old Man being sensible it was the Devil, and doubtless, having been a proving of his heart to God, as the Circumstance of Providence he was under more immediately called for, found in himself a renewed strength put into him, enabling him to hold up his head, and looking the Tempter in the Face; Replies, Ah Satan, if thou canst prophecy deliverance for me; know, my God in whom I trust, will deliver me without thy help; but however, know, I will not comply to thy wiles, therefore avoid Satan, avoid; so immediately he Vanished, and appeared no more to him: But so it fell out, the other Ship being at that time in the same Peril or Latitude, that Night▪ the Cabbin-Boy Dreams a Dream, that such a Ship thereabouts was Foundered, and every Soul lost, except such an Old Man, naming his Name, who was saved on a piece of a Ship, and floating in the Sea; which Dream, the Boy in the Morning confidently tells to the Company and his Master; at last, the Boy began to show more Confidence, affirming it, as if it must be true; insomuch, he received some Checks from his Master; but however, at last, the Boy grew so restless, that he, running up from one Mast to another, sometimes at Fore-top-mast-head, and then on the Main-top-mast-head, looking abroad, that at last, crying out aloud; Allow there, I see him, I see him under our Lee-bon; thus confidently affirming it, some of the Men stepped up, and spied something at a distance no bigger than a Crow to appearance, floating, and advised the Master of it, who presently commanded the Helm to be born up, and stood away to it; and when they came near, found it to be the Old Man, as the Boy said; so they hoist out their Boat, and took him in, who then was speechless, and almost spent; but by the care of the Master and the Chirurgeon, with God's Blessing, recovered, and gave a verbal account of his Misfortune, and yet wonderful deliverance; together with Satan's Temptation as before recited; which Ship, in due time, Arrived safe at her Port in Newfoundland, where this Man was well Landed ashore.  
For Confirmation, I had this, and heard it related at my Father's House in Salome in New-England, by Mr. John Blackledge a Merchant, who is a Person of a sober life, and in Fellowship there, who then came from Newfoundland, and did affirm that he spoke with the Man himself, whom God wrought this wonderful deliverance for, he being then at Newfoundland when the said Ship Arrived there, and the Man went first ashore.  
25. Anno Christi. 1630. May the first, the Moscory Merchants of London sent a Ship called the Salutation of London for Greenland, which arrived there in safety the Eleventh of June following, together with two other Ships, all which were commanded by Captaiu William Goodler. The Ship wherein the Captain was stayed at Bell-sound; This of the Salutation at the Foreland: And the Captain meeting with store of Whales, quickly made a Great Voyage, and so sent for the Salutation to take in part of his train-oil: By the way, as they went to him, meeting with Cross-Winds, the Master set-Eight of his Men on Shore to kill some Venison, in a place where there used to be good store. These Men taking with them a Brace of Dogs, a Snaphance, two Lances, and a Tinderbox, went on shore, and that day they laid Fourteen Good Deer upon the Ground: And then, being weary, and the Night coming on, they betook themselves to Rest, intending the next day to make an end of their Hunting, and so to return to their Ship: But the next day proved Foggy, and there was much Ice between the Shore and the Ship, and the Wind coming Southerly, the Ship was ●ain to stand so far off into the Sea to be clear of the Ice, that they lost the sight of her; and the Wether growing thicker and thicker, they thought fit to Hunt along the Shoar to Green-Harbour, and there to stay aboard the Ship, till their own Ship should come into the Port.  
In this passage they killed Eight Deer more, and so having laden their Shallop with Venison, they kept on their course to Green Harbour: But when they came thither, they found, to their Great Astonishment, that the Ship was departed. Being thus frustrated of their Expectation, and having but three days to the uttermost expiration of their limited time for their departure out of that Country, they thought it their best course to make all speed possible to Bell-Sound, to their Captain; and lest delay should prove dangerous, they lightened their Shallop by heaving their Venison overboard into the Sea, and so they hasted all they might, and that night got halfway: But the dark Fog increasing, they were forced to cove in a point of Land till the next day at Noon: At which time the Wether being clearer, they hasted forward; but having no Compass to direct their course by, they wandered up and down so long, till the Ships were departed. This filled them with fear and astonishment, knowing that neither Christian nor Heathen had ever Inhabited those desolate Climates: Yea, they had heard that the Merchants had endeavoured, with proffers of Great Rewards, and of sufficient Furniture, and Provision of all things necessary, to hire some to undertake to Winter in those parts, but could never meet with any that would adventure their lives in so hazardous an undertaking: They had heard also, that the Company of Moscovy Merchants had once procured the Reprieve of some Malefactors condemned to death here in England, unto whom they promised Pardon, together with Rewards and Provision of , Victuals, and all other Necessaries, if they would stay one Winter there: But when they came thither and took a view of the desolateness of the place, they conceived such horror and fear in their hearts, that they chose rather to return for England, and there to satisfy the Law with the loss of their lives, than to stay in so desolate and darksome a Country. They remembered also a more terrible Example, of Nine Good and Able Men left there formerly by the same Master that had now left them, who all died miserably upon the place; and whose bodies were fearfully disfigured by the Savage Bears, and Hungry Foxes, which are the only Inhabitants of that comfortless Country: All which made them, like amazed Men, to stand one looking upon another, every one foreseeing the future Calamities both of himself and of his Fellows: and that which much increased their horror, was, their want of all necessary provision for the life of Man, having neither  to keep them warm, and for shift, or food to prevent the Miseries of cruel Famine, nor a house wherein to shroud themselves from the extremity of Cold.  
But after a space, knowing that delay in extremities is the Mother of all danger, they began to conceive hope out of the depth of despair; and therefore they consulted together of the likeliest course for their preservation in that place, and resolved upon the opportunity of the next fair weather to go to Green-Harbour to kill some Venison for part of their winter Provision, which accordingly there did, but found not so many Deer as they expected; yet the first day they killed Seven, and Four Bears to boot, which they also intended to eat: The next day they killed Six Deer more, and as they returned, they killed Six more, and then the weather proving foul and cold, they laded their Shallop with the Dear and Bears; and finding another Shallop left there as usually they do from year to year, they laded it with Graves of Whales that had been boiled there that year; and so dividing themselves into those two Shallops, they took the first opportunity of returning to Bell-Sound to their Tent, where they intended to take up their rest for the Winter.  
But in their passage, the night coming on, and the wind blowing hard, they were forced to stay in the midst way at Bottle Cove for that night: There they fastened their Shallops one to another, and casting out their Anchor, they left them riding in the Cove.  
But here again, for the trial of their patience, and to teach them to rely more upon God's Providence, than upon any outward means of their own, this mischance befell them: The wind blowing hard into the Cove, and their Anchor coming home, their Shallop sunk into the Sea, and so wet all their Provision, and some of it they found swimming up and down by the shore: The sight thereof, wonderfully troubled them, to see the best part of their Provision, the only hope of their lives under God, in danger either utterly to be lost, or to be spoiled by the Sea-water, for which they had taken such pains, and run so many adventures in the getting of it: and in this their misery, they saw but one remedy, and that was a desperate one, viz. to run into the highwrote Sea to their Shallops to save the remainder of their Provisions, now ready to be washed away by the billows: This they did, and by main force drew the Shallops to the shore; then they went along by the Seaside to gather up such of their Provisions as was swimming up and down: and when the weather proved fair, they went on to Bell-sound: where being arrived, they took out their provision, and viewed the great Tent which was built of Timber and Board's, and covered with Flemish Tiles: The use of it was for the Cooper's to work and lodge in whilst they made Cask for the putting up of the train-oil; and they resolved to build another smaller Tent within that for their Habitations; and accordingly, taking down a lesser Tent that stood near to it, wherein the Landmen lay whilst they made their Oil, they fetched their materials from thence, both Board's, Posts, and Rafters, and from the Chimneys of the Furnaces, they took a thousand Bricks; they found also four Hogsheads of Lime, which mingled with sand from the shore, made good mortar: But the weather was grown so extreme cold, that they were fain to make two fires on both sides, to keep their mortar from freezing; then they raised a wall of one Brick thickness against the inner planks of the side of the Tent; but by that time they had walled two sides of their house, their Bricks failed, so that they were forced to build the other two sides of boards; which being nailed on both sides the posts, they were hollow between, which they filled up with sand, that made it so tight, that the least breath of air could not possibly annoy them. The length of their Tent was twenty foot, and the breadth sixteen; their Chimney was the breadth of a deal board, and four foot high; they ceiled it with boards five or six times double, that no wind could possibly get through: The door they made as close as they could, and lined it with a bed that they found there, which came over both the opening and shutting of it: they made no Windows, having no light but what came through the Chimney: then set they up four Cabins, quartering themselves two and two in a Cabin; their Beds were the Deer-skins dried, which was a warm and comfortable lodging for them in their distress: their next care was for firing, and finding seven old Shallops which were unserviceable, they broke them up, and stowed them over the beams in the great Tent to make it the warmer, and to keep the Snow from driving through the Tiles into the Tent: and by this time the cold increasing, and scarce having any day at all, they staved some empty Cask, and broke two old coolers (wherein they cool their Oil) providing whatsoever firing they could without prejudice to the next years Voyage: yet considering the small quantity of fuel, the extremity of cold, and the long time of their abode, they husbanded it as thriftily as possibly they could.  
Having thus fitted every thing in the best manner they could, on the twelfth of September, looking out into the Sound, they espied two Sea-horses lying asleep on a piece of Ice, whereupon, taking up an old harping-iron, they hastened to them, and first slew the old one, and then the young; and so bringing them ashore, they 〈◊〉 them, roasted, and eat them. Not long after they killed another; but the nights and cold weather increasing on them, and they viewing their Provision, found it too small by half; whereupon they stinted themselves to one reasonable meal a day, and agreed to fast Wednesdays and Fridays, excepting from the Graves or Fritters of the Whale (which was a very loathsome meat) of which they allowed themselves sufficient for their present hunger: at which diet they continued about three months.  
Having finished whatever they could invent for their preservation; they found that all their  and Shoes were worn, and torn; to repair which, they had this new devise; of Rope-yarn they made thread, and of Whalebones needles to sew their  withal: But October the tenth, the nights being grown very long, and the cold so violent, that all the Sea was frozen over; and they having now nothing to exercise their minds upon, were troubled with a thousand imaginations: Sometimes they bewailed their absence from their Wives and Children, thinking what grief it would be to them to hear of their miscarriage: then thought they of their Parents, and what a cutting corrasive it would be to them to hear of their untimely deaths, etc. and being thus tormented in their minds with fear, and grief, and pinched in their bodies with hunger, and cold, the hideous monster of desperation presented his ugliest shape unto them: But thinking it not best to give way to grief and fear, they doubled their prayers to Almighty God for strength and patience in their miseries, by whose assistance, they shook off their former thoughts, and cheered up themselves to use the best means for their preservation.  
Then for the preservation of their Venison, and lengthening of their firing, they thought best to roast every day half a Deer, and to stow it in Hogsheads, which accordingly they did, leaving so much raw as would serve to roast every Sabbath day a quarter, etc. And when this was over, they began again to think of their ensuing misery, that in case God should give them life, yet they were to live as Banished men from all Company; and as if their sorrows had been too little, they presently found an increase of it; for their Whale-Fritters, after they had been drenched in the Sea-water, lying close together, were grown mouldy, and spoilt: and again surveying their Bear, and Venison, they found that it would not afford them five meals a week, whereupon they were fain to cut off one meal more; so that for three months after, four day● in the week they fed upon the unsavoury mouldy Whale-Fritters, and the other three they feasted with Bear and Venison: But besides the want of meat, they now began to want light, so that all thei● Meals were Suppers: For, from the fourteenth of October, to the third of February, they never saw the Sun so much as peep above the Horizon: But the Moon, when not obscured with Clouds, they always saw shining as bright as in England: All which darksome time, they could not certainly tell when it should be day, and when night.  
In the beginning of this darkness, they sought some means to preserve light, and finding a piece of sheet-lead, and some Oil in the Cooper's Tent, and Rope-yarn, they made a Lamp, which they kept continually burning, which was a great comfort to them in their extremity; yet their wants and miseries were so many, and great, that sometimes they broke forth into impatient speeches against the causers of them, but then their Consciences again minded them of their own evil deserts, and so they took it as a just hand of God for their former wicked lives, or that God intended to make them examples of his Mercy in their wonderful deliverance: Humbling themselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, they prostrated themselves in prayer two or three times a day, which course they constantly held all the time of their misery.  
In the beginning of January, as the days began to lengthen, the cold began to strengthen; which proceeded to that extremity, that it raised blisters on their flesh as if they had been burnt with fire, and if at any time they touched Iron, it would stick to their fingers like birdlime: If they went out a doors to fetch in a little water, it would so pinch them, that they were sore as if they had been beaten. In the beginning of Winter, with Pick-axes breaking the Ice daily, they got some water on the Seashore: but after the tenth of January, they had none but Snow water which they melted with hot Irons, which was their only Drink till the twentieth of May following.  
By the last of January the days were seven or eight hours long, and then viewing their victuals again, they found that it would not last above six weeks longer, which made them fear further Famine; but they had recourse to God, who they knew, could supply them beyond their hopes.  
Looking out on a bright day, they saw a great she Bear with her Cub coming towards their Tent, whereupon arming themselves with their Lances, they went forth, and stayed her coming; she soon cast her greedy Eyes upon them, and hoping to devour them, hasted towards them: But with their Lances they gave her such an hearty welcome, that she tumbled upon the ground, biting the Snow for anger: the Cub seeing this, escaped by flight: The weather was so extreme cold, that they were fain presently to retire into the Tent, and having warmed themselves, they drew in the dead Bear, wherewith they dined merrily; and this Bear served them twenty days: Only this mischance they had, eating her Liver, it made their skins peel off; when she was spent, they yet feared that their Venison would not hold out till the Fleet came out of England; but God sent many Bears to their Tent, by times, at least forty, whereof they killed seven; One of which was exceeding great, at least six foot high; so that their Food increasing, they kept not themselves to such short commons, but oft eat two or three meals a Day, which much increased their strength.  
By this, the cheerful days lengthened so fast, that several sorts of Fowl resorted thither. March 16th one of their Mastiffs went abroad which they never saw after; upon the coming of the Fowls, the Foxes, which all winter had kept their Burroughs under the Rocks, came abroad to seek for their live; whereupon they set up Traps, which they baited with the skin of these Fowls, by which means they caught at times fifty Foxes; all which they roasted, and found to be good meat: then taking the Bear-skins, ●●aying the fleshy side upwards, and making springs of Whale-bone, they caught about sixty Fowls as big as Pigeons.  
May the first, the weather began to be pretty warm, so that they went daily abroad to seek for Provision: but nothing they could find for many days, till at length they met with abundance of Willocks eggs; of which they carried home thirty, intending the next day to fetch a thousand more, but the day proved so cold that they could not stir out of their Tent. The same day there came two ships of Hull into the Sound, who knowing that some men had been left there the year before, being very desirous to know whether they were dead or alive, the Master manned forth a shallop to go as near the shore as they could, and so over the Ice to the Tent: When these men came near the Tent, they haled them with the usual word of the Sea, crying Hey: to which one of them in the Tent answered again Ho; which sudden answer almost amazed them all: but perceiving them to be the very men left there, with joyful hearts they embraced one another, and so coming into the Tent, they showed the Hull-Men the courtesy of the House, giving them some Venison which was roasted four months before, and a cup of cold Water, which for novelty sake, they kindly accepted of them.  
After a little discourse, these eight men resolved to leave their Tent, and to go with them to their ship, where they were welcomed after the heartiest and kindest English manner: and so they stayed with them till the London Fleet came, which was three days after: At which time they went aboard the Admiral, in which Captain William Goodler was, who made them very welcome, and gave order that they should have any thing that was in the ship that might do them good: he gave them Apparel also, to the value of twenty pounds. So that after fourteen days refreshment, they grew all perfectly well: But when some of them went to their own Master that had left them there, he fell foul upon them, calling them Runaways, with other harsh terms far enough from the Civility of an honest man. Thus they continued in the Fleet until the twentieth of August, at which time, with joyful hearts, they set sail through the foaming Ocean; and though sometimes crossed with contrary winds, yet at last they came safely to an Anchor in the River of Thames: and the Muscovie Merchants dealt very well by them.  
The names of these men, were William Fakely Gunner: Edward Pelham Gunners Mate, that wrote this story. John Wise, and Robert Goodfellow, Seamen Thomas Ayers, Whale-cutter: Henry Bet, Cooper: John Dawns, and Richard Kellet, Land-men.  
Greenland, is a Country that lies very far Northward in seventy-seven Degrees, and forty minutes, It's wonderful Mountainous, which Mountains are all the year long covered with Ice and Snow▪ The plains in part are bare in Summer▪ But there grows neither Tree nor He● in it, except Scurvey-grass and Sorrel● The Sea is as barren as the Land, affording no Fish but Whales, Sea-horses, Seals, and some few small Fishes.  
26. In June 1668. the Peach-tree of London, a small Vessel of the Burden of about sixty Tuns, Edward Dixon Master, came into the Downs, bound for Guinny, intending there to take in Negroes, and to transport them to the Barbadoss, and from thence to come for London, where John Watts, the Son of John Watts, of Eltham, in the Country of Kent, Chirurgeon, shipped himself with the consent of Richard Watts, public Notary of Deal; little dreading that his Nephew, being not above eighteen years old, should meet with such a calamitous Accident. The ship had not been long in the Downs, but a fair gale presenting, they suddenly hoist Sail, God's Providence seeming to fill their Sails with prosperous success; the first place they touched at, was the Gold Coast, where they stayed not long, but sailed to old Calabar, in the byth' of Guinny. They entered a River, called the Cross River into Piratts Island. After they had taken in their Negroes, and ready to sail, 〈◊〉 Anchor being a peek, the Master 〈◊〉 up the Boatswain and three men more, whereof the relater was one, and commands them to look out the Copper Barrs that were left, and carry them on shore to try if they could sell them: the Boatswain, with his small Company desired that they might have Arms with them, not believing the report of some that informed them they were a harmless, and innocent people: they took with them three Muskets and a Pistol, and so rowed towards the shore, but not far from it, unhappily our Match fell into the water, and the ship being fallen down from that narrow part of the River, nearer the Sea, quite out of our sight, we were consulting what should be safest for us to do▪ we were not willing to precipitate our own Ruin, and were also ashamed to return to our ship before we had dispatched what we were commanded to: at length the Boatswain commanded the Relator John Watts on shore, to the first house to light our Match, which we recovered out of the water, after it was extinct, which he readily obeyed: but before he was twenty Rods from the waterside, he was seized on by two blacks (or rather Tawny moors) and by them haled above half 〈◊〉 mile up into the Country, and throw● with great violence upon his belly, and so compelled to lie till they stripped him; an● more Company coming to them, they were so eager for his poor Canvas apparel, that some they tore off, others they cut off, and with that several pieces of his flesh, to his intolerable pain: with these rags, they made little children's Aprons to cover their Privities; Linen and woollen being scarce there. The Boatswain seeing this John Watts was thus carried away, was resolved with his other two Companions to have him again, or else to venture all their lives for him: They arm themselves; but whilst they were consulting what to do, whether to venture on shore, or not, of a sudden they were beset with about a dozen men in several Canoes, but they valiantly maintained their Boat about the space of three hours, for after two of their three Muskets were discharged, they defended themselves with their Oars, and Boat-hooks. The Boatswain received a mortal wound in his Groin, and fell down in the Boat; the other two adventured in the River, endeavouring by swimming to escape the merciless hands of cruel Infidels; but the Negroes with their swift Canoes soon overtook them, and brought them on shore to the place where the relator was. The Negroes took out the Boatswain out of the ships boat; and instead of endeavouring at all to preserve life which remained in him, immediately they robbed him of it; one of them with a keen weapon cutting off his head before his Companions faces; and then they prepare for their rare banquet, while he was yet reeking in his blood: they in a barbarous manner cutting off pieces of flesh from off his Buttocks, and his Thighs, and his Arms, and Shoulders, and broiled them on the coals, and with a great deal of impatience, eagerly eat it before our faces, to our great astonishment. About fourteen days after, one of the Company fell sick, and instead of being Physicians to cure him, they were his Butchers to murder him. They served him as they did the Boatswain, cut off his head, and broiled and eat up his flesh, and rejoiced exceedingly at this rich Banquet. About ten days after, the third fell sick, whom they served in the same manner.  
This was no small cause of sorrow to the Relator; the thoughts of their Inhuman and Barbarous actions sometimes surrounded him with fears and sorrows, hourly expecting to taste of the said Cruelty. Death did not seem so terrible to him, as the violent manner of it; being left now alone, in a strange Country, destitute of friends or acquaintance, or any thing that might keep up his Spirits: die he would fain, but not by the hands of Infidels and barbarous Monsters. But the great God that is most compassionate in the greatest extremities had pity on him, and notwithstanding the alteration of the Climate, and the want of , and the strangeness of his food, which was only herbs, he continued in good health, and had time enough to lament this direful providence. The Natives who were daily expecting another banquet, met with a disappointment: either their customs, or the overruling power of God, would not suffer them to destroy him, he continuing still in health. Therefore they resolve to sell him: his Arannia, or Master, was pretty free to discourse him, which the Relater was capable of, being about three years before in the West-Indies, where he had learned the Tata language, which is easily attained, being comprehended in a very few words, and all the Negroes ●peak it. He began to discourse his Master, to know the reason of their Cruelty, who told him that he should rest himself contented, who if he were not sick, should not have his head cut off. In the Boat, which in the beginning they took with them, was a Musket saved of the three which was not discharged; which his Master, some time after he had been with him, brought to him to know the use of it: he endeavoured as much as he could to make him apprehend the use of it, but still they professed their ignorance: but they commanded and threatened him to show the use of it. The fear of his master's displeasure and their inhumanity, caused him to shoot it off; but the Negroes, which expected some delightful thing, were frustrated, and at the sudden noise and flash of fire (which they very much dread) ran from him, and were greatly affrighted; but quickly after, hearing no more of that noise, they came up to him again, and commanded him to do the like: he told them he had not powder, which was the cause of the noise; but this would not satisfy these Barbarians. He not being able to answer their expectation, they concluded he was not willing, they proceed to threaten him, and were about to murder him, had not his master rescued him. Upon discourse after with this Arrannia, or Master, he began to understand the reason of their barbarous dealing with him and his Friends, he telling him that naturally the People were civil and simply honest, but if provoked full of revenge; and that this Cruelty was occasioned by some unhandsome action of carrying a Native away without their leave, about a year before; they resolving, if any came ashore, they should never go off alive. He had not been above seven weeks in the Country, but his Master presented him to his King, whose name was E-fa-me, King of the Blackamoors, who immediately gave him to his Daughter, whose name was Oni-jah, and when the King went abroad, he attended him also as his Page, throughout the whole Circuit of his Dominions, which was not above twelve miles, yet boasting extremely of his power and strength, but glorying exceedingly that he had a White to attend him, whom he employed to carry his Bow and Arrows; at several places remote from the Seaside, the people would run away from him for fear, others would fall down and seem to worship him, and use those actions as they do to their God. Their progress was never so long, but they could return home at night, but never without a handsome load of a cup of the Creature. During all the time of the Relators servitude there he never knew him go abroad and come home sober. They drink of the best Palm Wine, and another sort of strong liquor, called Penrore. The Relator quickly knew how to humour this profound Prince, and if any of the Natives abused him, upon his complaint he had redress, as once by striving with a Negro, his arm was broke, which by providence, more than skill, was set again. After some months, the King of Ca-la-nanch, whose name was E-fn●mancha, hearing of this beautiful white, courted his Neighbour Prince, that he would sell him to him; at length they struck a bargain, and the Relator was sold for a Cow and a Goat; this King was a very sober and moderate person, free from treacheries and mischiefs, that the other was subject unto; and he would often discourse the Relator, and ask him of his King and Country, and if his Kingdoms and Dominions were as big as his, which were not above twenty-five miles in length, and fifteen in breadth. He told him as much as his understanding and years made him capable of, keeping still in the bounds of modesty, and yet relating as much as possible to the honour, and dignity of his Sovereign; first informing him of the greatness of one of his Kingdoms, the several Shires and Counties it contained, with number of its Cities, Towns and Castles, and the strength of each, the infinite Inhabitants, and valour of his Subjects. One of these Kingdoms was enough to amaze sufficiently this petty Governor, that he need not to mention any more of his Majesty's Glory and Dignity. It put him into such a profound consternation, that he resolved to find out some way to tender his respects to this mighty Prince, and no way could he find so convenient, as to tell the Relator, that if he could find but a passage, he would let him go to England, to tell his Majesty of the great favour and respect he had for him. This did not a little rejoice our Englishman. Withal the King told him, that he would send him a Present, which should be two Cabareets or Goats, which they do value at a very high rate; the King having not above 16 or 18. He tells the King, that the King of England had many thousands of his Subjects that were under the degree of Gentlemen, which had a thousand of Sheep a piece; the flesh of which, they valued at a very much higher rate than Goats. Though our Englishman lived very handsomely with this E-fn-man-cha, King of the Ca-la-nanch, yet his desires and his hopes were still for his Native Country: at length he obtained a promise from his King, that the first English ship that came into that Road, should have liberty to Release or Purchase him; this very much rejoiced his heart: now he thought every day a year, till he could hear of, or see some English ship arrived. Many times when he was alone, his heart would be oppressed with sighs and sobbings, when ke thought of his Relations, and the comfortable society that they had together; that it should be his sad lot to be captivated amongst barbarous Infidels. Oftentimes did he walk down to the Seaside, sometimes with hopes, sometimes with fear, earnestly expecting the wind of God's providence to blow in some English Ship thither: his often recourse to the Seaside was discerned by one Jaga, a Wizard, and the chiefest in three or four Kingdoms ; they are persons that the Natives give very much credit to, and on any difficult occasion, run to them for satisfaction. The famous Delphean Oracle was never had in greater adoration, than the prophetical Speeches of these Morish Wizards. Though they have infinite numbers of them in every place, yet this Jaga had the most renown amongst them; and one day he comes to him, and very kindly asked him, Why he so very often frequented that place? he told him, To see if he could discover any English Vessel to come in there: but he being not acquainted with his Great fame, Asked him When he did believe there would one come in? not that he was willing to give credit to any of their Divinations, but supposing that he thereby should please him and answer his expectation. Jaga immediately told him, That the Fifteenth day after an English Ship should come into the Road. Then he asked him, Whether that Ship should carry him away. To this he answered doubtfully, but told him, That he should be offered to the Master of the ship, and if they could not agree, but that he should come to Shore again, he should not be Sold, and that in a very short time after he should die for Grief. These Fifteen days seemed very long and tedious; many a look did he cast on the Sea with an Aching heart: The Fourteenth day he went to the highest Hill 〈◊〉, but to no purpose, for he could discover no Ship: next Morning he went again two or three times, but saw none: about two or three hours after came running into E-fn-man-cha, some of the Moors, and told him there was a Canoe coming, so they called our Ships; at which our Englishman hearty rejoiced, hoping then to be released forthwith, yet durst not show his joy for fear of punishment or of death; for though he lived better now than with his first Master, yet his service was far worse than the Slaves in Turkey, and their Diet worse than Dogs-meat; therefore had he cause enough of inward Joy; the Ship came immediately in, and he highs away presently to Jaga, to know if it were an English Ship, who resolved him that it was; it happened to be the St. Maloes' Merchant, Captain Royden Commander, who hastened to dispatch his Business, took in his Negroes, and was ready to sail, and our Englishman heard never a word what should become of him, the King never offering to sell him; this put him on a resolution to endeavour to make an escape, and to that end had prepared a piece of Timber which he had drawn near the waterside, on which he intended to paddle to the Ship, which then lay about a League from the Shore. Just by the Seaside; as he was about to launch his little floating Stick, he espied a Great Aligator, which will devour a Man at a Mouthful; this made him alter his Resolution, and resolve rather to live with Inhuman Infidels, than to throw himself into so imminent a danger, which would have been little less than self-murder. But the next day, which I may call a day of Jubilee, Almighty God opened the heart of the King to let the poor English Man go: he sent him in a Canoe, placed between a Negroe's Legs, with some others to Guide this small Vessel, for fear he should leap over board and swim to the Ship. At a distance from the Ship he hailed her in the English Tongue, which was no small cause of admiration to those on Board to hear an English Tongue out of their Canoes: The Negroes gave him leave to stand up and show himself to the Captain, to whom he gave an Account how four were left there, and only he preserved. It was a pretty while before they could strike a Bargain, though the Captain was resolved not to leave him behind. Several times the Negroes padled away with their Canoe, resolving not to part with him; but what with his entreaties and promises, he persuaded them to the Ship again, and they delivered him on board for Forty five Copper Bars and Iron Bars; each Copper bar being about the bigness of a Youths little finger, the Iron bars a little bigger. Now were his joys completed, he thought himself, as it were, caught up into the Third Heavens; he could hardly persuade himself but it was a Dream or Vision, and that he did not really see English faces, or embrace English bodies. It was some time before he could throw himself at the Captain's feet, and acknwledge his infinite cause of joy in himself, and thankfulness to him for his deliverance from such a severe Captivity; that he that lately was a slave to Infidels, that worship they know not what, should now see the Faces of Christians, and join with them in Worshipping the true God; and to him first he offered up the Sacrifice of hearty thanksgiving, that had sent his Angel to redeem him from so cruel a bondage. When he came on board, his hair was very long, and his skin tawny (Malatto-like) having gone naked all the time he was there, and frequently anointing himself with Palmoyl he looked like a Tawny Moor; but immediately the Seamen aboard with Christianlike hearts, apparelled him. The Master commanded to hoist sail, and having a fair wind, they sailed to Barbadoes, where Captain Royden was to tarry some time; but the Relator earnestly desiring to go to his Native Country, and his Relations, got passage to the Downs, in the Katherine of London, Captain South Commander, which through God's goodness in a few weeks arrived in the Downs, where the Relator was put on shore to his Uncle Mr. Richard Watts of Deal, his great joy and satisfaction, who took this relation from his own mouth.   

The Relation of Dr. William Johnson, concerning a most Remarkable Sea-Deliverance; in his own words.  
27. We went aboard from Harwich, on Michaelmas day, Sept. 29. 1648. in the William and John of Ipswich, Daniel Morgan, Master, and having a fair wind, we set Sail; I being Sea-sick, went to bed, but about four a Clock in the Afternoon, the Master of the Ship came into our Cabin with more haste than he was wont, which made me ask him whither all was well, who like a tenderhearted man, who is loath to tell his dying Friend, that he is so nigh his end, replied all is well, yet when I saw him shift himself with such haste, I risen from my Bed, and crawled upon the Deck, where I saw a sad spectacle, the Ship having sprung a leak, or rather a plank, was ready to sink, upon which, every man was affrighted, one was at his Prayers, another wring his Hands, a third his eyes shedding of tears, when he had no need of more salt water; but after this, they fell to work, but were busy in doing nothing: The Master's Mate, who went to search the Leak, told us with a sad countenance, trembling hands, gnashing of Teeth, a quivering Tongue, and words half spoken, That the Leak could not be stopped, and the water came in so fast upon us, that we must perish in this moment. Upon which we presently cast out our Longboat, and shot off eight or nine Guns to another Ship, who came out with us, to come to our relief, then with some difficulty we all got into the Boat, and God be thanked, came clear of the Ship, whose sails now lay flat upon the Water, and now we were rowing we know not whither, for the other Ship came not to our relief, which made us have hard thoughts of them without cause, for we understood that both the Ship, and all the men perished in the same hour. Now were we without all hope, for it blew half a storm, and we were in a small Vessel, many Leagues from the Shore, without Compass, or provision to sustain us, being starved likewise with Cold, as well as for want of Victuals, having nothing in our Boat, but a small Kettle which served to cast out the water, and three bags of pieces of eight of three hundred pound Sterling, which would neither feed us, nor keep us warm; in this distress we went to Prayers, and it pleased God to hear us, and send a Ship to us, even in the moment of Death, which we endeavoured to come to, and he likewise to us, but the storm was so great, we could not reach one another, though when it was dark, he hung out a light, and we to let him know we were alive, ordered that when a wave took us up, we should give a great shout, which we did so loud, that I believe our cry was heard to Heaven, for by God's miraculous assistance we got near the Ship, and soon after, all safe into it; the next day it blew fair for Norway, whither we were bound, and about twelve at noon we saw the Coast, which being ragged, and full of Rocks, we resolved to stay till next morning before we went in, and then sat down to meat, and eat very hearty, being kindly entertained by the honest Norwegian; about ten a clock at night, we laid us down to rest, after having prayed, and set our watch, but immediately this our second Ship ran with full Sails upon a Rock, and gave so great a Crack, as was able to awake the most dead asleep among us, and the Mariners cried out, Mercy, Mercy, it pleased God, that the Ship struck itself so fast in the cloven of a Rock, with her Bow over the main Rock, that the former part of her stood firm, but breaking in the storm, one of the Seamen leapt from the bow of the Ship, upon the Rock, with a Rope in his hand, which was fastened to one of our Masts, and held it with so stiff a hand, that another slipped down by it, and so all our Company that escaped, being Twenty Eight in number, came safe to the Rock; I was the last that came down the Ship that way, for in that very moment she gave way, which the Master perceiving, who was still aboard, made lamentable moan to us, to help him, which we endeavoured to the utmost, but the Ship broke, and sunk immediately; there was this good man, and four of the Mariners drowned; I saw the Master, with a light in his hand fall into the Sea, the saddest sight that I ever yet beheld in this world, and that which pierced my very Soul, to see him that saved our Lives, lose his own: Now were we in the dark, upon the Rock, but knew not where, our feet being cut upon the sharp stones, at length, we happened of a hole in the Rock, which was a warm shelter against the wind; and when morning came, where we could see no Land, only had a Glimpse of the Coast of Norway at a great distance; We grew hungry, but had nothing to fish, but our Arms, with which we drew up some small Muscles, and they we eat hearty, but we burned with thirst, and I would have given all I had for a draught of fresh water, which would have been more welcome than the Gold of Ophir, though nothing is so mean in our esteem; but we were forced to drink Salt-water, which increased our thirst; we now saw a Ship coming towards us with full Sails, and we waved our hats to them, but they went off, and never came near us; we betook ourselves to our old Remedy, Prayers, the Danes first singing one of ●●ther's Psalms, fell to their Prayers, and I prayed as long as I was able to speak, and then laid myself down on the Rock, thinking I should rise no more in this World: But I overheard one of the Seamen say, Let us make a Raft, and venture to Sea, I had rather be drowned than lie here and be starved; They all concluded of it, though dangerous, and the Sea having fallen from the Rock, had left our Sails, Masts, and Anchors, with part of the Ship thereon, wherewith they soon made a slight Boat, and it being a great calm, the rest passed through the beaches with four men in it, and had it touched only on them, they would have rend it in pieces, however through God's goodness, they arrived safe in Norway, and returned with several Boats, so that we came all of us once more to Land, and were entertained at an honest Lutheran Parson's house, where after we had continued for some days, with little money and much thanks we parted, and came to Frederick 〈◊〉, where the People run after us in the Street, and with compassionate Eyes gave us what we wanted, without ask; from thence we went to Osterson●●, and there went aboard an English Ship, we had not been above two or three 〈◊〉 at Sea, but there was a sad distraction, the Mariners again crying for Mercy, Mercy, for we had almost fallen foul on a Rock under water, which we did not spy till we were upon it, but by the mercy of God, we sailed close by ●t, and yet escaped it, the least touch of ●t had been our ruin; about noon we ●ame clear of all the Rocks on the Coast of Norway, and were sailing for England, with a fair Gale of Wind, but in this prosperity, another sad accident befell us, ●his third Ship sprang a leak, and began ●o swim within, as well as without, and we had no way to relieve ourselves, but ●y pumping (for the Leak could not be ●ound) which we did day and night, or four or five days together, when it pleased God, we came safe, though in a ●reat deal of danger, because of our otten Ship; into Yarmouth Road, for the ●ind being very high, had like to have driven us upon a Scotch Vessel, who cried ●ut as well as we, but we happily missed ●●m, and so safely arrived in Yarmouth ●own, through the wonderful mercy of God. Deus Nobiscum.   

The great Dangers, and Merciful Deliverances of William Okely and his Company from Slavery in a Canvas Boat, etc.  
In the Year 1639. We took Ship at ●avesend, in the Mary of London, Mr. Boarder Master, bound for the Isle of Providence in the West-Indies, five weeks we lay in the Downs, waiting for a wind, and then we set Sail, and came to an Anchor near the Isle of Wight, but by this time all the Beer in our Ship stunk, and we were forced to throw it overboard, and so take in Vinegar to mix with Water for our Voyage; the next Lord's day we set Sail again, and coming between the Island, and the main Land, we stuck fas● in the Sands, but the Tide coming in● heaved us off: the sixth day after ou● setting Sail from the Isle of Wight, we discovered three Turks men of War, wh● chased us, and at break of day boarde● and took us; having kept us clo●● Prisoners at Sea, at the end of five or six weeks, they brought us to Algiers, when I was sold for a slave the first Market da● to a Patron, who told me, I must allow him two Dollars a Month, and live ashore where I would, and get it when I could, though I knew not where t● levy the least Mite of it: Wand'ring u● and down I met with an Englishman 〈◊〉 his little Shop, who Traded with T●bacco, and a few other things; I beca●● his Partner with a little Money I h●● reserved, and a small modicum my Patr●● had allowed me for my stock; Here I got money and hired a Cellar, where I laid up some other of my Goods; when weary of my slavery, I form a design for my Liberty, and communicated it to John Anthony Carpenter, William Adam's Bricklayer, John Jephs' Seaman, John a Carpenter, and two others, men of able Bodies, and useful in the intended project, which was to contrive the Model of a Boat, which being form in parcels, and afterward put together, might be the means of our escape: They approved the Proposal, and in my Cellar we began our work, we provided first a piece of Timber of twelve foot long to make the Keel, but because it was impossible to convey it of that length out of the City, but it must be seen and suspected; we therefore cut it in two pieces and fitted it for jointing just at the middle, and then we provided Ribs, after which we made the Boat Water-tight, and because boards would require much hammering, and that noise was like to betray us, we bought as much strong Canvas as would cover our Boat twice over upon the Convex of the Carine; we provided also as much Pitch, Tar, and Tallow, as would serve to make it a kind of Tarpawling Cerecloth to swaddle the Naked Body of our Infant Boat; of two Pipe staves sawed at the Corners, we made two things to serve for Oars, and for our Provision, we had a little Bread, and two Leather Bottles full of fresh Water, we also remembered to buy as much Canvas as would serve for a Sail, we carried out these in parts and parcels fitted them together in the Valley about half a mile from the Sea, whither Four of our Company carried the Boat on their Shoulders, and the rest followed them, at the Seaside we stripped, put our clothes into the Boat, and carried it and them as far into the Sea as we could wade, and then all seven got into the Boat, but finding she was over laden, two of the Seamen were content to stay on shore; having bid them farewel, we launched out, June 30. 1644. The Bill of Lading was John Anthony, William adam's, John Jephs, John the Carpenter, and William Okely; Four of us wrought continually at the Oar, the Fifth was to free the Boat of that Water, which by degrees leaked through our Canvas, our Bread was soon spoiled with the soaking in the Salt-water, our Freshwater stunk of the Tanned Skins, and Owze, yet we complained not, three days with good Husbandry our Bread lasted us, but then Pale Famine stared us in the Face; Water indeed we might have, but it must be Salt, out of the Sea, or that which had been strained through our own Bodies, and that we chose of the two; but we must not have that after a while, unless we would accept of the other first; and the misery was, that did not assuage our Thirst, but increase it; the Wind too, for some time was full against us, but God rebuked it, and made it our Friend; a second inconvenience was, that our Labour was without intermission; and a third, the extremity of the Heat by day, the season raging hot, the beginning of July, and we wanted freshwater to cool the Heat, our Labour made it insupportable to our Bodies, and our little hope made it as grievous to our Souls; one help we had, a poor one, he that emptied the Boat, threw the Water on the Bodies of the other to cool them; but our Bodies thus scorched and cooled risen up in Blisters all over; great pain we felt, great dangers we were in, great miseries we endured, great wants we were under, and had nothing but a little hope, food, and strength: If any Ask by what Directions we Steered our course to Mayorck, whither we designed to go; for the day a Pocket Dial did supply the place of a Compass, by Night the Stars when they appeared, and when not, we guessed our way by the motion of the Clouds: Four days and nights were we in this woeful plight; on the fifth, all hope that we should be saved was perished, so that we left off our Labour, because we had no strength left, only we emptied the Boat of Water; but then God sent us some Relief, for as we lay hulling up and down, we discovered a Tortoise, not far from us asleep in the Sea; had Drake discovered the Spanish Fleet, he could not have more Rejoiced; we took up our Oars, silently rowed to our Prey, took it into the Boat with Great Triumph; we cut off her Head, and let her Bleed into a Pot, we drank the Blood, eat the Liver, and sucked the flesh: it wonderfully refreshed our Spirits, and we picked up some crumbs of hope: about Noon we thought we discovered Land; it's impossible to express the joy of our raised Souls at this apprehension, we Wrought hard, and after further Labour were fully satisfied that it was Land, and proved to be Mayork, which we kept within sight of all day. July the 6th. about Ten at Night we came under the Island, and crept as near the Shore as we could or durst, till we found a convenient place, where we might thrust in our Weatherbeaten Boat; when we were come to Land we were not insensible of our deliverance; but though we had escaped the Sea, we might die at Land; We had no Food since we eat the Liver, and drank the Blood of the Tortoise; therefore John Anthony and myself were sent out to Scout abroad for Freshwater, because we spoke some Spanish; We came to a Watch-Tower of the Spaniards, spoke to them on the Watch, told them our Condition, earnestly begged some Freshwater, and some Bread; he threw us down an old Mouldy Cake, but so long as it was a Cake, Hunger did not consider its Mouldiness; then he directed us to Freshwater which was hard by; We stood not telling of Stories, we remembered our Brethren left with our Boat, and observing the Sentinels Directions, came to a Well, where there was a Pot with strings to draw with; we drank a little Water, and eat a bit of our Cake, but the passage was so disused, that we had much ado to force our Throats to relieve our clamorous Stomaches; we return to our Boat, and acquaint them with the Good Successes of our Embassy, and all prepare to make to the Well, so tying our Boat as fast as we could to the shore, we left her to Mercy: Now we are at the Well which hath Water therein, and we have something to draw, but God must give us a Throat to swallow; for William Adam's attempting to drink, after many Essays, was not able to swallow it, but still the Water returned, so that he sunk down to the ground, fainting, saying, I am a dead Man: but after much striving he took a little; so refreshed with our Cake and Water, we lay by the Well side till the Morning; when it was clear day, we again went to the Watchman, entreating him to direct us the ready way to the next House or Town, where we might find relief; he civilly pointed us to one about Two Miles off, and long it was ere our Blistering Feet could overcome the tediousness of that little way: When we came thither, the honest Farmer moved with our Relation, sent us Bread and Water, and Olives, and seeing us Thankful Beggars, enlarged his Civility to us, called us into his House, and gave us good warm Bean Pottage, which seemed to me the most pleasant Food that ever I eat in my Life, than we advanced to the City of Mayorck, about Ten Miles from that place; that Night we lay by a Well side, and in the Morning we entered the Suburbs; the Viceroy was informed of us, and we were commanded to appear before him, who, after he had Examined us, and heard our Story, ordered we should be maintained at his own Cost, till we could have Passage to our own Country, But our English Ships seldom Trading thither, we Petitioned the Viceroy for Passage in the King of Spain's Galleys, which were in the Road bound for Alicant, which he graciously granted us; after some other Troubles we met with contrary Winds, and it was five Weeks ere we could reach the Downs, where we arrived in Sept. 1644. The Commander of the Ship was Captain Smith of Rotherhithe, Mr. Thomas Saunders, my Wife's Brother, being in Mayorck not long after we came from thence, saw our Boat hung for a Monument upon the side of the Great Church there; and Mr. Robert Hales was there 1671. and assures me, that he saw the Naked Ribs and Skeleton of it then hanging in the same place. Wanly's Hist. Man, p. 642.   

The Merciful Preservation and Deliverance of Captain Blose and his ships Company, who were Cast away in an Island of Ice near Russia, this present year 1697.  
October the 7th. 1696. We came from Archangel in Russia in the Riga Merchant, Burden 300 Tuns, 18 Guns, Samuel Blose Commander. The 8th we had the Wind at North West by West, we plied to Windward, and it blew very hard; the 10th we took two Reefs in our Topsails; the 12th we took in our Topsails, and Reefed Costs; the 13th about One in the Morning we Sprung a Leak, in so much that we were forced to set both our Pumps to Work, and bear away before the Wind; yet still the Water increased; and the 14th we cut our Mainsail from the Yard, and let him fly overboard, the Wether being so excessive thick by reason of the extraordinary much Snow that then fell, that we could not see the Land, nor any place where we could run our Ship Ashore to save our Lives; The 15th in the Morning, about One of the Clock, by Fortune, unexpected of us, before we see any Land, we struck upon an Island, called by the Russes, Mussoves, lying in the Missen Gulf, which by the Miraculous hand of God 〈…〉 gotten well ashore, for as God of his wonderful goodness so ordered it, we struck about High Water, and as the Water fell away, our Ship dried, so that we got all safe to Land without any harm; and if it had pleased God we happened ever so little, either to one side or the other, we should have all perished amongst the Islands of Ice. When we got all ashore, we made us a Tent, and when it was Day, looking about us, saw something like Houses; so our Captain and a Dutch Merchant Passenger that we had on Board of our Ship, and our Doctor, went to see what they were, thinking to find some Inhabitants, but they could ●ind none: then we went Aboard our Ship, and got all our Beef ashore that we could find, about One hundred Weight of Biscuit Bread, which was all the Bread we could find; then we Calculated that our Beef at Four Pieces a day, would serve us till the middle of May, and every Man one Biscuit a Day; but that would last but a small time: Besides, we got a shore Three Boxes of Candles, which was a great comfort to us in our necessity, by reason we had not above Three hours' Day. Then we got all our things we had saved to the House that we saw; and going about discovered a great many more Houses, and we went to them to see what we could find, expecting to see some People, but there was none but empty Cask, so we came home to the place that we had carried our things to again; but, as God would have it, just against the House that we had taken for our Habitation, in the Snow, we saw Two Cask, and we went and found them both full of Rye Meal, which was a Joy beyond measure to us in our Extremity; and then we found another Cask with a Kneeding-Tub in it: December the First, the Dutch Merchant, and Four more of our hands went out and took a Compass, and Provision with them, upon Discovery, hoping to see some body to speak to, that we might know where we were, but they could find no Inhabitants, the Course they steered was S. E. but when they came to turn back, their Compass unhung, and they not minding it, went up and down a long time, and at length came to the same place where they were when they first turned back; then they looked more earnestly upon their Compass, and found it unhung, they hung it, and came the direct way home again; but when they came in sight of a House that was about Two Miles off of our House, the Merchant and one more Travelling better than the other Three, went before, and promised them to make a Fire against they came; but the Wether being so severe, they were not able to come along, but were Starved with the Cold before they could get up to us: So the Lord, of his great Mercy, made Provision for us until the First of March, it being a Sabbath day, and we at our Devotion, one of our Boys being at another Ho●se Boiling of our Victuals, saw some Men upon the Island, he fell down, being much surprised, but soon got up again, and run and told us; upon which we left our Prayers, and run to see what they were; our Merchant could speak the Language, which was the preservation of all our Lives, for otherways they would have Murdered us for breaking down their Houses, and Eating their Provisions that we found upon the Island, for they would not be persuaded but we were Pirates and Robbers, by reason that we were Building of a Small Vessel for our own Security, of carrying us to the Main when the Ice broke up; but our Merchant speaking their Language, persuaded them, and promised them to make them Satisfaction for what Damage we had done them; for we broke down Two of their Houses for Firing: So they ●●rned us out of our Houses, and took our Meal from us. The Men that came over were in Number 500, Ten Men in a Boat, they came there to kill Seals: They asked us what we had seen? We told them, Nothing but Two Ravens. They made very strange of it, and would not believe it: For they told us, That none of them could live there but Six Weeks in the Year, whether they catcht Fish or not, the Island was so Haunted. Soon after the Russians came there, that Man that saved his Life, and got well home with the Merchant, when the other Three were Starved with the Cold Died, that was Four that was Dead, our Complyment at first was 27, but then we had but 23 Living: Then our Merchant went to the Russians, and desired them to put us ●ver, and he would satisfy them for it: They granted we should have Six Boats, and 60 Men to Drag us over the Ice, for it was Seven Leagues from the Main, and all full of Islands of Ice between, insomuch that they were 24 hours coming over when they came upon the said Island: But it pleased the Lord so to order it that after they had dragged us over Two small Islands of Ice, that as God parted the Red-Sea for the Children of Israel to pass through, so he parted the Ice from us, insomuch that we got over in Six hours' times, which the Russians told us was never so before. But when we came over we lay where there was 1000 Men a Fishing, The first Night: and the next Morning we hired Sledges to drag us to some place Inhabited: The Beasts that dragged the Sledges along they call Roeys, they are like Dear, but larger: We were forced to be Dragged, we could not Travel our Limbs were so disabled with the Cold before we got off the aforesaid Island: besides the Snow was of such a vast thickness, and so hard Frozen, that we could find no Path, if we could Travel never so well, If the Shamakes, as they call them, had not shown us the way; the first Night of our Journey upon the Sledges our Carpenter's Mate died, so we made a Hole in the Snow and put him in, and left him. Then our Captain, and the Merchant, and the Doctor, being but single in a Sledge, and we near double, went faster than us to the next Town to provide Victuals and fresh Sledges for us against we came; and when we came to that Town we got Sledges that had Horses to draw them along, so we Rid Night and Day till we came to Archangel; the Third day of our Travels another of our Men Died, and the Fifth day another; the former we Buried in the Ground, because we were nigh a Town, but the other we Buried in the Snow: So that when we came to Archangel, out of our 27 Men, we had but 20 left. March the 17th we came off the aforesaid Island, and we Travelled Night and Day, except the first Night, until the 25th of the same Month. Two days after we came to Archangel we lost another Man. At Archangel our Captain got Stoves for us to inhabit in, and sent us Provision, where we remained till the 6th day of June, when there came in Six Sail of Hollanders, being the First that came that year, who divided us amongst them, and brought us to Greenland, and from thence some of us were brought to Holland, and some to Hamborough, from whence Sixteen of us got Passage to England, where we Arrived the Fifteenth of November, 1697. Two went to the Straits, and our Dutch Merchant tarried in Holland.  
This Account is given by Francis Lee, who was Boatswain of the Ship, and Attested by others now Living in London.    

THE Seaman's Preacher; OR, Sea-Dangers and Deliverances Improved; in a SERMON.  Acts 27. 18, 19, 20. 
18. And being exceedingly tossed with a Tempest, the next day they lightened the Ship.  
19 And the third day, we cast out with our own hands, the tackling of the Ship.  
20. And when neither Sun nor Stars appeared, and no small Tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved, was then taken away.  
IN this Chapter we have a full Narrative of Paul's Voyage to Rome, in all the circumstances of it; it seems Paul kept a Journal, and so Recorded this memorable Voyage for the use of succeeding Generations. 1. We have the occasion of his Voyage, (viz.) Paul being then a Sufferer and a Prisoner, he appeals to Caesar, and so is sent to Rome, and there bears a faithful Testimony for Jesus Christ, (vers. 1.) 2. We have the Dangers that occurred in the Voyage, and these are also carefully Commemorated (vers. 9) Now much time was spent, and Sailing was now dangerous, because the Fast was already past: This was the yearly Fast of the Jews, on which the atonement for all the people was made by the Highpriest, in the holy of holies; which day was the 10. of the 7th Month, (Leu. 16. 29.) which partly agreed with our September and October, in which time the Sea, was not Sailed in, by the Ancients, until the beginning of March, because of the shortness of the days, and the violence of the Tempests, they were prone to in those Parts, this is the sense of Interpreters upon the place. 1. Danger of the Voyage we read of, is this, the winds were contrary, (vers. 4.) this is spoken of the Voyage of the Disciples, The winds were contrary. 2. Danger, there arose not only a contrary wind, but a violent wind, called an Euroclydon, (vers. 14.) some read it a Whirlwind, but it is meant of an East-wind, which raises the Sea mightily. 3. The Tempest was so great and violent upon them, that they were glad to let the Ship drive, (vers. 15.)  
3. We have not only the Danger in this Voyage, but their marvellous Deliverance and Preservation; for they came off all of them with their lives, (vers. 44.) the particulars whereof you may see.  
In the Text we have three things observable. 1. Their endeavours in this great distress to preserve themselves. 1. They lightened the Ship, and what was it she was laden with? it was Wheat, (vers. 38.) They lightened the Ship, and cast the Wheat into the Sea; thus did Jonah's Mariners cast out the Wares. Alas, what are these things, but lumber to lives? if it were Gold, it must go for Life. Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life. Then what should a man give for his Soul? what will a man give for his Soul? what will a man give in exchange for his Soul? 2. Endeavor; they cast out the Tackling of their Ship; any thing they part with to save their lives, though never so useful to them; even that which was necessary for their Voyage, they are under a necessity to part with it, for the preservation of their lives.  
2. We have their Dangers as well as Endeavours. 1. It is expressed in the violence of the Tempest; they were exceedingly tossed with a Tempest. 2. It was dark weather, neither Sun nor Stars appeared, which used to be great comforts and helps to poor men at Sea. 3. Their Danger is expressed in this, they were brought to the brink of the black pit of Despair; all Hope now was taken away. O what a sad distressed condition was this! their Hope, which is called the Anchor of the Soul, yea which is the Sheet-Anchor of the Soul, was lost; they gave all their lives over for gone and lost: And oh, what could now a company of men do that had lost their Hopes and Hearts? could these that had lost their Hopes find their hands? they were now saying, as the Jews did in their Captivity, Our Hope is lost, we are cut off for our parts, (Ezek. 37. 11.)  
3. We have their Deliverance and Preservation, coming in at such a time and season as this was; now that they are brought to an extremity, God makes it his opportunity; and now that all hope of being saved is taken away, salvation will be most seasonable: and now the Angel appears to Paul, and tells him, all their lives are insured, only the ship shall be lost.  

Observations are these:  
1. Dangers and Deliverances are to be carefully recorded and remembered; therefore Paul takes an account of both, here in this Voyage.  
2. Salvations and Deliverances many times are not sent, until persons be left hopeless in themselves.   
I shall speak a little to both these upon this present occasion, that what you read here, may be remarked and remembered.  
1. Dangers and Deliverances are to be carefully recorded and remembered. This Observation hath two parts: 1. Dangers are to be remembered. 2. Deliverances are to be remembered.  
Thus the Lords poor people used to do in all Ages: When Jacob was in danger of his Brother Esau, you see how he commemorates it, and gives us an exact narrative of it, and tells us how he feared him: Lord, I fear my Brother Esau, (Psal. 34. 4.) How often was David in danger by Saul, who was his sworn Enemy? and how many Psalms have we, taking occasion to remember what danger he was in, and how comfortably he was brought off: I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and delivered me out of all my fears. (2 Cor. 1. 9, 10.) As Paul tells the Corinthians what danger they were in; they were pressed out of measure, out of strength, in so much that they despaired of life, etc. And so at Sea as well as Land, he would have dangers remembered; how that they go up to the Heaven one while, and sink into the deeps another; their Soul melted because of trouble, and they at their wits ends, etc. Peter's danger at Sea is recorded, when he began to sink, and cried out, Master, save me, or I perish, (Matth. 14. 28, 29, 30.) And the Disciples, when they cried o●t, Carest thou not that we perish? (Mark 4. 38.) It is observed the Ship now was full, and now comes salvation and deliverance. Here was their danger recorded, the Ship was full, and Christ asleep in the hinder part of the Ship.  

1. Query is, How Dangers should be remembered?  
2. How Deliverances should be remembered?   
1. Dangers should be remembered, considering we may come into them again. Many when dangers are not, they sing to their Souls that song, and delude themselves, The bitterness of Death is past; they think they are out of one storm, and they shall never come in such another. Just as persons do with their Sickness at Land, so many do with their Dangers at Sea, if God bring them off: O they grow hardened and secure again. But if God hath brought home one dangerous Voyage, we should think, it may be the next will be as dangerous; Have I escaped one at Sea, one at Land? if I do not improve it, if I do not walk suitable under it, O how easily can God bring me into another. You never were in such Dangers, but you may come to the like again, whether at Sea or Land.  
2. Dangers should be remembered with consideration to the greatness of them; great things should be remembered, a great God, great Mercies, great Deliverances, great Sins, and great Dangers. How should we think, O what a Danger was I in at this time by such a Storm at Sea! by such a Sickness ashore! not only my Life in danger, but Lord, was not my Soul in danger? was I fit to die at such a time? had I gotten an interest in Christ, if I had been cast away at such a time? Men think dangers great for their Bodies, but they do not think them so for their Souls; they think them great for their Ships, for their Estates, but they do not think them so for their Eternal conditions; O, had not my Body, Soul, Ship, and all perished together. And was not this a great danger? thy Soul's danger was the greatest danger; hadst thou been drowned at such a time, thy Soul had been shipwrackt to all Eternity.  
3. Dangers should be remembered with consideration to their suddenness; how many times do they come suddenly upon us? As there is sudden fear, so there is sudden danger. When the Lord sends the Winds out of his Treasury suddenly, and threatens men at Sea with sudden destruction, when desolation seems to come as a Whirlwind, etc. we should think, What if sudden death had come upon me, what a condition was my poor Soul in? what a dreadful thing would it have been if I had been surprised on a sudden, and sent into an Eternal condition, in the twinkling of an eye? I, to be threatened to be swallowed up, only with a formal God have mercy upon thee in thy mouth; not to have time to pray, repent, reflect upon thy past life: O what a sad thing is this?  
4. We should think of our Danger with consideration to the frames of our heart● what frames of heart we were then under. 1. To the frames of our hearts when in our dangers. 2. The frames of our hearts when brought from under them. 1. The frames of the heart when in and under them: were not you under great fears and hurries of Soul? it may be, not knowing how it would go with your Souls, if you had gone off the stage of this life at the present. David when he was in danger, took especial notice of the frame of his spirit; Innumerable evils have compassed me about. (Psal. 40. 12. 13.) He was compassed about on every side with danger; and how was it with him then? he calls to mind, Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up, 57 7.) And what then? O see how he prays▪ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord make haste to help me. Remember what the frames of our hearts were in our dangers, in reference to our fears; and secondly, what in reference to our faith so also did David, when pursued in danger by Saul. My heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise. We are to remember our fears under our dangers, that we may be prepared better for future trials; we are to remember our faith under dangers past, that we may be encouraged for the time to come in after straits.  
2. We are to remember our frames of spirit when God brings us out of our dangers; how then we were melted with the present sense of the mercy; as those Israelites, when God brought them out of danger, they believed God, they sang and gave praise; O what resolutions were there then upon the Soul to be given up anew to God; to walk before the Lord in the light of the living. Thus also did David, when brought out of danger; Thy vows are upon me, O God, etc. and at another time, The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, etc. and thou helpedst me, (Psal. 56. 12, 13.) And then what a frame of heart was upon him? Return unto thy rest, O my Soul, etc. (Psal. 116. 6, 7.) Then he was all for returning to God: O now there was fresh endearments betwixt the Soul and God. These we are to remember, that we may not wear totally the sense of them off our spirits.  
5. We should remember our dangers, with consideration to the frequency of them; how frequently we were in them. Paul remembered this, in Perils by Sea often, in Perils by the Heathen, etc. (2 Cor. 11. 26.) O how often have we been near Drowning, near Taking, near Sinking, near Dying, and yet God brought us off; these things we should call to mind often; go out upon dangerous Voyages, and often come home; the oftener and more frequent our dangers, the more should we think upon them.  
2. We should Remember our Deliverances, but how? 1. We should Remember them, so as to admire them; thus did the people of the Jews in Ezra, Who hath given them such deliverance as this? O! they admire it, and write a Non-such upon the Head of it, as David admired the goodness of God, when he had spoken of his House to come. Is this the manner of men, O God? He was in an holy Ecstasy of Heavenly admiration; so should you say now; to carry out, and bring home, in such a dangerous time as this; To hid from Enemies, when sought for in such a time such a Voyage as this: Oh! 〈◊〉 am I? And what is my Father's house, that he should bring me hitherto? You should turn the Deliverance on every side, and admire the goodness of God, the wisdom of God, the mercy of God, the power of God, the faithfulness of God in it, and say, O Lord, what a Deliverance is this? What a Voyage is this? God loves to have his Mercies admired by us.  
2. We should Remember our Deliverances, to have our Hearts raised up in gratitude, and thankfulness to God for them; Thus did David, I will pay my Vows unto the Lord, in presence of all his people: I will take the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord, Psal. 116. 12, 13, 14. We are to remember to pay our Thank-offerings unto God, after our Deliverance from God: What, forget such a Deliverance as this? What, not be thankful for such a Preservation as this?  
3. We should Remember our Deliverances, so as to endear our Hearts to God; Thus we find David, I will love thee, O Lord, I will love the Lord dearly, (●o the Heb.) The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer, etc. Psal. 18. 1. O! now how should Souls, after their Deliverance; boil, and burn in Love to God How are we engaged to a Friend that is at any time but an Instrument in God's hand to Deliver us? And shall we be endeared to the Instrument, and not to the Author? O! How was David endeared to God, when he said, He having Redeemed him, he would walk before the Lord in the Land of the Living, Psal. 56. ult.  
4. We should Remember our Deliverances to improve them in a way of acting Faith, when the next danger and straits comes: I will remember thee from the Land of Jordan, from the Hill Missar, Psal. 42. 6, 7. This was to encourage him from his former Deliverances in his future straits and exigencies. What, now distrust God, who hath delivered in six Troubles, and now shall we give way to Unbelief in the Seventh? Did not holy David thus? He hath delivered me out of the Paw of the Lion, and out of the Paw of the Bear, and he will deliver me out of the hand of the uncircumcised Philistine. Thus Paul remembers his Deliverance from Nero. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion, and the Lord shall delive me from every evil work, 1 Tim. 4. 17, 18.  
5. We should remember our Deliverances, to be often inculcating, and imprinting them upon our own hearts: Alas, when we receive them, they are a little fresh it may be upon our spirits, but O how soon do they die, because they are not written upon our hearts; they are not Engraven there as a Man that would Remember a thing, be it a Notion, or any Resolution, he will be often turning it over in his thoughts; Alas, if we writ our Deliverances, Is it not in the Dust? whereas we should write them in Marble: We should write them with a Pen of Iron, and the point of a Diamond.  
1. We should Commemorate our Dangers with our Deliverances, because God gives them to that end. The Lord doth not give us our Deliverances to cast them at our heels, nor brings us out of our Dangers, that we might forget them, as though we had never been in any of them. God expects that we should faithfully Register and Record them; therefore it was a great Provocation to the Lord, that the Children of Israel so soon forgot his works: If you do but forget the kindness of a Friend, you think it is disingenuous; but O then, What is it to forget that God that hath delivered you out of six troubles, and in seven troubles? God loves and expects his kindness should be kept upon Record.  
2. We should Commemorate our Dangers and Deliverances, because it was freely of his grace to bring us out of the one, and put us under the other; Is it not of his mere mercy that he rescued and pulled us out of our dangers? Might not we else been swallowed up of them? And may not we all say in this case, as the Psalmist in that? Had it not been the Lord who was on our side then, the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our Soul, than the proud Waves had gone over our Soul, Psal. 124. 4, 5. May not you who have been so often delivered at Sea in eminent dangers sing this Song▪ What, and now forget such dangers? and cast behind your backs such Deliverances. Oh! the freer any favour is, the more it should be remembered; Doth God see any thing in us, or in our Families, more than others, to bestow such deliverances for? One Man goes to Sea, and he is taken; another goes to Sea, and he is sunk; another goes to Sea, and he dies the Term of the Voyage; And why doth the Lord preserve you? Is not this Freegrace? not because you are more Righteous, but because he is more Gracious; And should not this be Remembered?  
3. Our Dangers and Deliverances should be remembered, because God hath gracious ends and designs both in the one and the other; What ends hath God to bring us into dangers? 1. He by this hath an end and design to quicken up to duty; it may be there may be some omitted duty; neglected duties often bring Men into great and eminent dangers; it may be a Person is convinced of the duty of Prayer, but it may be neglected; Oh then God will bring into danger to quicken to duty; Oh, says God, In their affliction they will seek me early. The very Heathen Mariners called out for Prayer in time of danger. Observe it, that Persons convinced of duties, either Personal or Domestical, and yet neglected, God usually whips them to their Duties, by one danger, affliction or another. The Proverb is good, if you would teach a Man to Pray, send him to Sea. 2. God by bringing us into dangers, hath a design upon us to convince us of sin; many Convictions hath come into the Soul at this door; Dangers have often proved inlets to Convictions. Oh! What Convictions have many poor Souls lain under while in danger, when it may be the dangers hath given them a view of Eternity; when Dangers hath presented Death to the Man, and Conscience hath cried, Now thou art sinking, now there is but a step betwixt thee and Eternity, betwixt thee and another World? Oh than what Convictions hath the Soul lain under? and yet it may be when the Danger is over, the Conviction is over too. Well, though we may forget all, yet God remembers all. 3. God hath a design upon us in our Dangers, to prepare us for our latter end. The danger thou art in, and hath escaped, calls for to prepare for thy Death, which must certainly come to pass shortly. God by Dangers would have you prepare for Death: And Oh! What a cutting Consideration will this be when thou comest to die? that thou who hast been in so many dangers by Sea and Land, should have no more learned to die, nor ready to die. Alas, you escaped the last, that you might prepare for the next. 4. God hath a design upon our Graces by bringing us into danger; Danger is to exert and draw forth Grace. Thus the Disciples Dangers at Sea were to draw forth their Faith. Faith and Patience comes most visibly upon the stage in times of most eminent danger. 5. God by bringing us into Dangers, hath a design upon our Souls; he sometimes by danger of drowning the Body, hath saved the Soul, and hath caused it to say, Periissem nisi periissem: I had perished, if I had not perished. Some have escaped Shipwreck of Soul, by Shipwreck of Body; And shall we forget such Dangers, when God hath such gracious designs in them upon us?  
2. He drives on gracious ends and designs in our Deliverances, And shall we then forget them? etc. 1. He spares us, that we may account his long-suffering Salvation; he gives, by sparing of us, space to Repent; and Oh! What 〈◊〉 dreadful thing is it not to remember wherefore we are spared and delivered? He gave her space to Repent, but she repent not, Psal. 56. ult. The Prisoner is Reprieved, that he might sue out his Pardon, And will he forget the end for which he is Reprieved? 2. He delivers, that we may live to him. Why was David's feet delivered from falling? it was, that he might walk before the Lord in the light of the living. He gives us our lives, that we might give them back again to God, Jer. 7. 10. Men are not delivered from dangers to live to themselves, to live to their lusts, to Drink, and Swear, and Rant, and Roar, as a great many poor Wretches do. That say as they did, We are delivered to do all these abominations, Psal. 50. 15. 3. God hath another end in Deliverance, that we might glorify him, in paying our Vows to him. I will deliver thee; And what then when out of Trouble never remember it more, cast it behind thy back; O no; And thou shalt glorify me. He aims at a revenue of glory out of your deliverances. 4. God hath another end in delivering of us; that we might enter into New Engagements, to be more the Lords; as in times of great dangers, there use to be great engagements betwixt God and the Soul; so in times of Great Deliverances, there are great Engagements pass betwixt God and the Soul, New Dedications to God; New Deliverances call for New Dedications of the Soul to God; now the Soul should be set apart for God more than ever. 5. God hath another end in delivering of us, that we might break off our league with sin; thus it was with them, Shall we break his Commandments, after such great deliverance as this?  

APPLICATION.  
Is it so, that our Dangers and Deliverances should be remembered by us? then it is a word of Information.  
1. Learn we here how acceptable it is to God, that we thankfully congratulate our Mercies. No Music like a sound of Trumpets off the Waters: so, O what sweet Music doth it make in God's Ears, that you thankfully record Sea-Mercies, and Sea-Deliverances; this is Music of the Waters; this makes Melody in God's Ears. Sea-Prayers and Sea-Praises come up acceptably before the Lord; he is so pleased with them, that he hath called them Sacrifices. O that Men would offer the Sacrifice of Praise; this is the found of Trumpets you should carry to Sea with you, outward bound, and homeward bound.  
2. Learn we hence what a Great Evil it is to lose the remembrance of our Dangers and Deliverances. What do many Families? What do many Persons with the Sea-Dangers, with the Sea-Deliverances? Do not they write them in the dust? Do not they bury them in the 〈◊〉 of Oblivion? Do not they cast them behind their backs? Do not they trample them under foot? O poor Souls! they little know what they do. 1. Such Deliverances will have a Resurrection in their Consciences one day; though they bury them now, O they will rise again: And Oh! How will they then dread and terrify a poor Soul? 2. Such Deliverances will another day be witnesses and evidences against you. Oh! What a cutting testimony will they give in against the Soul? Hast not thou been graciously and wonderfully delivered in such a Voyage, in such a Storm at Sea, in such a Sickness at Shore, and yet walked unsuitably under all thief? To be cast out by mercy, O what a dreadful thing is this! 3. Such deliverances forgotten by us, harden us; either they soften or harden. These Providences are like God's Ordinances in this respect, they either harden or soften. Oh! What a dreadful thing it is to be hardened by Deliverances and Preservation, and yet many are. Sentence being not speedily executed, the hearts of Men are fully set in them to do evil. 4. Such Deliverances will be Great aggravations both of man's sin and misery, if forgotten by them. The goodness of God was the aggravation of the sin of David, says God, When I had done so and so for thee, nay, and I would have done more, wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight, 2 Sam. 12. 8, 9 What, for you that had such deliverances as these, to break his Commandment; as Ezra says; O this is an high aggravation! 5. Deliverances and Dangers forgotten will cause the Lord to pull in his hand in a way of mercy, will cause God to give up Persons, and take his Protecting Presence from them, take them from the shadow of his Wings. Souls by forgetting past dangers and deliverances, may put themselves from under God's Protection for the future.  
Use 2. Is it so that we are to Remember our Sea-dangers and deliverances? then it is a word of Exhortation; be exhorted then to call to mind, and keep in mind, what God hath done for you; and in this Exhortation I address myself to Seafaring men, whose lives are a course and series of Wonders in their frequent Salvations and Preservations, (witness this Treatise) as you see the wonders of God in the Deeps, (viz.) The wonders of his Creation, so do you see the wonders of his Salvation: How often may Wonderful be Written upon the Head of Salvations that you are every Voyage receiving from God? you never go out, and come home, but God works Wonderfully, and appears Wonderfully for you; Is not he a Wonder-working-God for you every Voyage?  
The Exhortation is to call to mind, and keep in mind, to Record and Register your Dangers and Deliverances, and not to do as Israel is said to do, who soon forgot his Works. How often doth God bring in this sin of theirs in one Psalm? They forgot his works, and the wonders he had showed them, Psal. 106. 13. Psal. 78. 11.  
1. Keep them in mind, for they are wonderful Dangers and Deliverances; They are Wonders, these are to be remembered. Marvellous thin●s did he for them, in the sight of their Fathers, etc. He divided the Sea, and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand as an heap, Psal. 78. 12, 13. And it is brought in again in that Psalm. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when God delivered them out of the hand of the Enemy, etc. Psal .. 73. 42. And in another place, Th●y forgot God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the Land of Ham, Psal. 106. 21. 22. This heightens the sin exceedingly to forget such Great and Wonderful Dangers and Deliverances.  
1. Your Dangers are Wonderful in this Respect, they are often such as threaten a sentence of Death to be executed upon you. May it not be said of poor Seamen, as was of them; For we would not (Brethren) have you ignorant of our trouble, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired of Life, but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in him that raiseth the dead, who deliverid us from so great a Death, and doth Deliver, 2 Cor. 1. 8, 9, 10. O how many Seafaring Men may say thus! Our Dangers have been such, as we have often despaired of Life; there hath but been a little betwixt us and Death; nay, betwixt us and Eternity; And shall we forget such dangers, when we have been so near death in them? As he said to David, As the Lord lives, there is but one step betwixt thee and death. O how often have you been near sinking, near drowning, and yet God hath then appeared for you, with an outstretched Arm, and in the Mount hath been seen, And will you not remember this?  
2. Your Dangers are Wonderful in this Respect, they are sudden and surprising, they are wonderfully sudden; How are you often, all on a sudden, threatened with nothing but present Death and Destruction? It may be said of Seamen, as of those in Job, Snares compasses them about, and sudden fear troubleth them, Job 22. 10. It doth not only trouble them, but all on a sudden trouble them, before they know almost where they are (as we say;) We read of some whose Calamity shall come suddenly. Suddenly shall he be broken without Remedy, Prov. 6. 15. O how terrible is such a case, or such a danger And hath not God often threatened to make this your case and condition? O then do not forget such dangers that have so suddenly looked you in the Face!  
3. Your Dangers are  in this Respect, they are not Dangers in which your Bodies are concerned only, but they are Dangers in which your Souls are concerned; It is not only the danger of a Shipwrecked Vessel, and a Shipwrecked Estate, and a Shipwrecked Body, but a Shipwrecked Soul. Here is the great danger, lest thou make a lost Voyage for thy Soul: If thou had died in such a Storm, or died in the Term of such a Voyage; Oh! What would have become of thy Soul, thy precious, thy immortal Soul? Had not thou died in a Carnal, in a Christless state and condition? Had not thy poor Soul perished to all Eternity, if thou then had miscarried? Was not thou then a stranger altogether to Christ, and a Work of Saving Grace upon thy Heart? Had not thou then the guilt of all thy sins upon the back of thy Soul unpardoned? And O what danger was this! And wilt thou forget such dangers?  
4. Your Dangers are such at Sea, as none but a God can deliver from; all your skill cannot; O, then is the greatest Artist at his Wit's end! The Psalmist tells us, (Psal. 107. 27.) the Mariners in their Storms, are at their wit's end; (or as some read it) all their wisdom is swallowed up, they know not what course to Steer, (the Dutch Annorators carry it,) Now their very Pilots are at a loss; Now all their courage cannot contribute to their deliverance, though men of the greatest natural courage and magnanimity in the world: Yet now their hearts melt because of troubles; as it is said of the Mariners in Jonahs' Ship, The Mariners were afraid. O now, when Death and Eternity, the Grave and Judgement to come looks them in the face! Then they are Magor-Missabibs, terror to themselves, and to all about them; O now, the danger is such, it must be the only finger of God that can help! I have heard of a Ship in Yarmouth Road, that in a great Storm, they feared the Anchor would come home, and the Master discoursing with a Youth in the Ship, that God had begun lately to work some Convictions upon, O says he, Master if God do but lay a Finger upon one Strand of the Cable, it will hold; and in the morning many Ships were lost near them, and there was but one Strand in the Cable left. O the finger of God only can sometimes save in dangers. It was a good saying of a Godly Commander of a Ship in eminent dangers, None now but that God that saved the Children of Israel at the Red Sea, can save us out of this distress; and as soon as he had said it, the Wind altered, and saved them; And will you forget such dangers as none but a God can save from?  
5. Your dangers at Sea are such as many thousands have perished in; how many have gone to Sea, that never returned more? that have been swallowed up in the belly of the great Deeps? How many have perished by the Sword at Sea? how many by violent Storms? and that God should put a difference betwixt you and others, and you should forget it, this exceedingly heightens and aggravates the guilt. How many have lost their lives? how many have lost their limbs? and yet in such dangers God hath brought you off; this is never to be forgotten.  
2. Your dangers are not only wonderful, but your deliverances are so too, and therefore should be remembered. There is never a deliverance, but you may read a wonder in it; so many deliverances and salvations at Sea, so many wonders. God saves you in a miraculous way.  
1. Is not this a wonder, that persons of such great sins and provocations, should be persons of such great salvations and preservations? that such as sin every Voyage, nay, it may be at an high rate sin every Voyage, should be saved and delivered at such an high rate every Voyage? is not this a wonder, that men of such sins, should be men of such salvations? that men that sin against these salvations, should not have these deliverances shorten upon them. Oh what a wonder is this! We should wonder if a person should be continually disobliging any of us, and yet we should be still heaping up kindnesses upon him: This made the Prophet Ezra say, Shall we again break his Commandments, after such deliverance as this? O do not you provoke the Lord every time that you go out, and still he delivers you, still he returns you to your Relations, to visit your habitations in peace! and is not this a wonder?  
2. Your deliverances are wonderful, if you consider your deliverances are great deliverances. We read of such; And the Lord saved them with a great deliverance; or with a great salvation. Thus said Samson, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant, (Judg. 15. 18.) Now any great transactions are remembered and recorded. Your deliverances are great, if we consider these things; 1. They are commanded deliverances by the great God; his word of command brings all our deliverances about, whether at Sea or Land. Which made the Church in distress pray, Thou art my King, O God, command deliverances for Jacob, (Psal. 44. 4.) He commands every thing tending to deliverance at Sea; in order to deliverance, he commands the Winds; He maketh the storm a calm, (Psal. 107. 29.) He also commands the Seas; he says to the proud Waves, So far, and no farther. You read of a decree set to the Sea, that it cannot pass; Though the Waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it, (Jer. 5. 22.) It is the great God only that rides Lord Admiral at Sea, to command the Seas and the Waves thereof. God is said to shut up the Sea with doors, and set bars upon it. Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed, (Job. 38. 8, 11.) Xerxes presumed he could tame the Hellespont, for attempting his Bridge of Boats; but all this was in vain, this is a flower in God's Crown alone, to command the Sea. Your deliverances are a fruit and effect of God's commanding Power, therefore great. 2. They are great deliverances, as they are the curious workmanship (as I may call them) of the Attributes of a great God. Deliverance is said to be wrought for us, it is the handy work of God; If God will work, who can let? (as the Prophet saith, Isa. 43. 13, 14.) And he seems to speak it upon the account of the deliverance of his People; For your sake I have sent down to Babylon, and have brought down all their Nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in their ships. In every deliverance there is the excellent work of the Attributes of God; we may in such a deliverance say, Here is the Power of God, and here is the Wisdom of God, and here is the Love of God, and here is the Faithfulness of God, etc. For as God in the confounding of the Languages at Babel, said, Go too, let us go down, (as if he derected himself to his glorious Attributes, compassing about his glorious Throne) Come, let us go down. Gen. 11. 7. (Or, as some take it of the Trinity, as in the Creation.) So when God sends us deliverances in our distresses, he sets his Attributes at work; Go Power, go Mercy, go Love, go Faithfulness, go and act your respective parts in this deliverance; and must not this be then an excellent and curious Piece that God's Attributes bring forth? 3. They are great deliverances, if we consider the great sins and provocations they come over the heads of, the great unworthiness of the receiver, heightens much the mercy and favour received; the reason why persons do not greaten their deliverances, is because they do not greaten their sins, in the deep sense and aggravations of them. O such a Soul would say, as David, Is this the manner of men? O God, is not this a great deliverance for such a great sinner to receive? 4. They are great deliverances, if we consider the time and season of their coming in; as this deliverance of the Ships Company where Paul was, it was when all hope of being saved was taken away; and so were many of the deliverances mentioned in this Treatise. So Peter's Sea-deliverance, when he began to sink, Christ stretched forth his hand immediately; he was now sinking and going, but see how ready Christ was to save; He stretched forth his hand and caught Peter, (Matth. 14. 28, 29, 30.) Our sinking time, is Jesus Christ's saving time. In the Mount is the Lord seen; our extremity is God's opportunity; and are not then these great deliverances never to be forgotten? 5. They are great deliverances, if we consider they are not only deliverances of Bodies, and Ships, and Estates sometimes, but Souls; and where the Ship is lost, and the Estate is lost, yet for the life to be saved, and the Soul delivered, is a very great Deliverance; a Reprieve when a Prisoner is under the sentence of Death, is a great Mercy: O when God Reprieves a poor Prisoner, this is some Deliverance; we read o● some Deliverance God gave to Israel in the days of Shishak; a Reprieve is some Deliverance, but if it end in suing out the Prisoners Pardon, than it is a great Deliverance. If it be such a Deliverance in a Storm at Sea, as Hezekiah had from a Sickness at Shoar, Thou hast delivered me in love to my Soul, and cast all my sins behind thy back, (Isa. 38.) This is a double Deliverance, and sure such Deliverances as these are worth Recording; These are to be written in Marble and not in Dust, with the Pen of Iron, (as the Prophet says) and not with with point of a Diamond.  
3. Your Deliverances are wonderful, if you consider the many thousands that have perished in less Dangers to an eye of Reason; they are distinguishing Deliverances, and therefore wonderful hath God dealt with all men that go to Sea as with you. Hath not thousands perished by the Sword at Sea in bloody Engagements? Miscarried at Sea in dreadful and terrible Storms; Hath not the Sea been a Sepulchre for thousands? Are not there Millions of the Dead that the Sea must one day give up, and yet you Delivered, and yet you spared? O what distinguishing Mercy is this! And shall this be forgotten by you? Should not you keep Records of distinguishing Mercy? How many sunk sometimes, and perished by your sides? How many that went out with you that never Returned? One taken, and another left; one sunk, and another saved.  
4. Your Deliverances are Wonderful, if you consider the way that sometimes God takes to bring them about; O what strange ways doth God take to deliver, when he hath a mind to deliver; sometimes he brings down to the very Gate of the Grave, he brings to the Doors and Bars of the Sea, and then shuts these doors; as Job speaks, He brings to the next door to perishing, and then he delivers; Master save me, or I perish; and then he lends an Arm, witness many of these deliverances here mentioned. Sometimes he doth it by strange means, low and contemptible, as the poor man that we Read of, that delivered the City, (Eccles. 9 15.) sometimes by unthought of and unexpected means, as he that Relieved Major Gibbons, as this Story mentions, he was a French Pirate. As that Ship I have heard off, that when she sprang a Leak, and they all had like to have perished, all on a sudden the Leak stopped, and they knew no Reason, but when they came into the next Port to search her, there was a great Fish had wrought himself into the Leak, that they were glad to cut him out; was not here a miraculous deliverance? That Jonah should be swallowed up by the Whale, O what a miracle was this! and so he was preserved! and how have some been saved by sudden shifts of Winds when near sinking and perishing? these are to be remembered to the Lord while you live: Oh! methinks this one Motive should set on the Exhortation, if I should use no more, to Remember your Dangers and your Deliverances.  
But secondly, another Motive is this, to Remember your Dangers with your Deliverances; this will in your great distresses and extremities, contribute some hope to you; to read over your Register, your ancient Records, how good God hath been at such a time, and such a time; how seasonably he stepped in and delivered in such a straight and such a straight; Oh then says the Soul, why should I despair, and cast off all hope now? hath not he appeared and saved in Deaths often before now? for past experiences are good supports for Hope in present exigencies and extremities; thus David argues, when at a great strait, Thou hast delivered me, and wilt deliver me; and thus Paul, Thou hast delivered me, and wilt deliver me. Haman found this a good way to Remember the years of the Lords right hand.  
3. Remember your Dangers and Deliverances, for God Records them; they are filled up by God, and he will mind you of them another day if you forget them now; he keeps his Journals and Records; he hath his Book of Remembrance of your forgotten Mercies, as well as your forgotten sins; God will one day read over all those Deliverances you have forgotten; Oh poor Soul! did not I deliver thee in such a Danger, in such a Distress, in such a Death, when there was no Hope, when there was no Help, yet all this hast thou forgotten; forgotten thy Mercy, and forgotten the God of thy Mercy; Oh! will not this sting you to the Heart, when God shall cause your strangled, and murdered Mercies to walk in your Consciences? when he shall give them a Resurrection there?  
4. Motive to Remember your Dangers and Deliverances: the Vows of God are upon you; Oh! what did you say to God in the day of your distress and calamity? Lord, if thou wilt now appear, and be a present help in time of trouble, it shall never be forgotten, i● shall be remembered to the Lord as long as we have a day to live; but when God brings poor Souls off, many do not only forget their Vows, but deny them; In Ancient times it was usual in eminent dangers, whether at Sea or Land, to make Vows; We read that Jonahs' Mariners they Vowed Vows, (Jonah 1. 16.) David did thus, Thy Vows are upon me, O God I will render praises unto thee, etc. Psal. 56 11. (and in another place) I will pay thee my Vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble, (Psal. 66. 13, 14.) But because this is so ordinary to make Vows at Sea, and broke them a Shoar, let me enlarge a little upon it. 1. Why should you forget your Vows after your Deliverances? They were not rash Vows, there might have been some excuse, if you had made them rashly, you might then have had a Plea, for saying it was an Error; but in times of distress, men are serious, when Death and Eternity is set before them, and they upon the brink of another world; dare you sinners rashly Vow, in this day of your distress; O no, your Consciences will bear witness against you, that you were in sober-sadness at that day. 2. Why should you forget your Vows after your Deliverances, for God will require payment? Nay, this is not only the Reason why we should not forget to pay, but why we should not delay to pay; When thou vows a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shouldst not slack to pay it, for the Lord thy God will require it, yea, will surely require it of thee, and is would ●e sin in thee, (Deut. 23. 21.) Take it for granted he will do it, yea, he will surely do it. 1. He will require it, so as to call to a payment day, he will demand it, he will send unto you a Summons to pay the Vows you made to him in the day of your Distress. Oh! how often is Conscience God's Officer, that he sends to you to demand Payment? O says Conscience, Sinner, pay what thou owest to the God of thy deliverances; is not he a God to whom the Vows must be performed? 2. He will require it, so as to punish the nonpayment; and so requiring is here taken, and in many other places, the Lord doth very often severely punish Vow-breaking; breaking of Vows doth cause God often to destroy the works of your hands. Say not before the Angel, It was an error, wherefore should God be angry at thy Vows, and destroy the works of thy hands? (Eccles. 5. 4, 5.) Some Expositors refer this to the Priest, before whom the sin of rash vows was to be confessed; others carry it to Christ, the Angel of the Covenant. who sees through all our subtle excuses and equivocations, and punishes them. O, God is angry when men go so flatly against their Vows; O than God is angry, and destroys the work of their hands, viz. disappoints their endeavours, and denies them success.  
Lastly, to forget your deliverances and dangers, is the greatest ingratitude and unthankfulness in the world; hath God given you so many wonderful deliverances, so many miraculous preservations, to be buried in the grave of oblivion? will you murder your mercies, and then bury them? It is commonly said, Murder will out. Murdered Mercies will one day make terrible work, in walking in your Consciences.  
The next Observation is this, That Salvations and Deliverances many times are not sent until persons be left helpless and hopeless. I shall give you a touch of this. Now all hope of being saved was taken away, no small tempest lay upon them; now they were gulfed in despair of ever coming off with their lives: Yet this often is the condition of Nations, Ship-Companies, and Persons, where God intends to save and deliver. The proofs of the last Observation about Dangers and Deliverances being recorded and remembered, proves this also. Thus was Peter saved, the Disciples saved, when just at sinking  
But why doth God stay so long before he sends deliverances and salvations? 1. Because he delights to draw forth a spirit of prayer; if men will not pray when sinking, when drowning, when dying, they will never pray. O see how Jonah prays in his distress: And Jonah prayed to the Lord out of the Fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of Hell cried I, and thou heardst my voice, etc. When my Soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my Prayer came in unto thy holy Temple, (Jonah 2. 1, 2, 3, 7.) O Sirs, God loves prayer so well; that he stays with his deliverances, that we might sue them out by prayer. Out of the Depths have I cried unto thee, saith David, (Psal. 130. 1.) Driven to it by deep and bottomless straits, into which I am plunged. And it seems to be an allusion to Mariners, in their distresses and dangers of being shipwrackt, crying unto the Lord. What will any man perish, and never pray House, when he had so long been starving in the Fields, with his Husks, amongst the Swine!  
4. Because God will have all his Salvations and Deliverances look like his own hand and arm, his own arm brings salvation with him; he will have the print of his own hand upon it, that poor sinners may say, This is the finger of God, the do of God, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Alas, Men would attribute it to themselves, if Salvation did not come in such a way, when all hope of being saved is taken away. Oh! every thing is beautiful in its season; Is not Salvation and Deliverance now in season? now they begin to despair, as to probable or visible hopes. O now God works like himself, now he appears in a deliverance to be God; which set the Disciples a wondering, What manner of Man is this, that the Winds and Sea obey him? Mark 4. 41. And at another time, when he delivered his Disciples at Sea, and calmed the Winds, than they that were in the Ship worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou are the Son of God, Matth. 14. 32, 33.  
5. Because he will by such salvations set off his love to poor Souls: Was not the love of Christ set off highly, in taking that season to save the Ship when it was full; to save them when they were sinking; Is not that great Love, that steps forth to save in an Extremity? O what Love was this, to save this Ships Company, when all hope of being saved was taken away? Love always chooses the fittest times to appear and evidence itself.  
Lastly, Because he will have his deliverances, endearing deliverances to Souls. O how doth such an appearance of God, at such a time, endear the Soul of the Receiver. Therefore, saith David, I will love the Lord, (or love the Lord dearly) my Rock and my Deliverer, etc.  
But I will proceed to give you also a taste of the Application, and not be large, because I have been large upon the former, which was mainly intended.  
1. Then learn we hence, that God may for gracious ends, known to himself, delay a mercy or a deliverance, and yet fully intends to give in that mercy. Jacob may wrestle all night, and yet be put off; but in the break of day the mercy comes. The Woman of Canaan may cry to Christ for her Daughter, and at present be put off, yet at last she shall carry it. The believing Soul may not have the Dove come with an Olive-branch in her Mouth until Evening. Christ's manifesting of his love to poor Souls, is called his Supping with them; And I will sup with you: Now supper comes not up till Evening.  
2. Learn we hence, that God's timing our deliverances and salvations, is best for us; his time is the best time. Our time is always ready, (but saith Christ) My 〈◊〉 is not yet. If we had our Mercies in our time, we should not see that beauty in them; for every thing is beautiful in its season: and God chooses the fittest seasons to feud them, because he will put a beauty upon them.  
3. Learn we hence, that no case is desperate to God, though it be so to Man: One would have thought this a desperate case, in such a Storm, lightning the Ship, the casting out of the Tackling of the Ship, neither Sun nor Stars appeared, and all hope of being saved taken away; yet all this was but desperate to them, it was not so to God: now their extremity becomes God's opportunity, and he takes this juncture of time to appear in. Thus David, Psal. 42. 7, 8. all God's waves and God's billows had gone over him; a desperate case! yet God (than he believes) would command his loving kindness in the daytime, and his Song should be with him in the Night. Faith is an excellent Grace at a desperate stand.  
4. Learn we hence, that God's thoughts are not as our thoughts; when we think of nothing but sinking and perishing, then doth God think of saving and delivering. They thought all hope of being saved was taken away, but God looks through the Storm and Cloud, and comforts them. As the Disciples, when they thought it had been a Spirit in their Storm that appeared to them; No, saith Christ, be not afraid; be of good cheer, it is I, Mark 6. 50, 51, 52.  
Use 2. Is it so, that the salvations and deliverances that many of us have, are not until we be brought to extremities? then it is a word of Exhortation; Then look up to God in the most desperate case, when you know not what to do in your Storms at Sea, in your Straits at Land. O then let your eyes be up unto the Lord; you see how many deliverances have come down in extremities, as answers to Prayer. O Pray hard; let going to Sea, being in Storms at Sea, being brought to Extremities at Sea, learn you to Pray.   
FINIS.   

PRAYERS.  

The Mariner's Prayer.  
O GOD the great Creator of Heaven and Earth, thou dost whatsoever thou pleasest in the Sea, and in all deep places; I, the most unworthiest of all thy Servants am at this time called upon to behold thy Wonders in the Deep, and to perform my Duty in great Waters. Guide me, I beseech thee, in all times and in all places: Be thou our skilful Pilot to steer us, and protect us from all Dangers, and rebuke the Winds and the Seas when they molest us, preserve our Vessel from being rend by the loud cracks of Thunder, or from being burnt by Lightning or any other accident; keep us and save us from tempestuous Wether, from bitter Frosts, Hail, Ice, Snow, or Whirlwinds, and from Captivity and Slavery.  
TEACH me, O God, to remember thee my Creator in the days of my Youth, to continually think upon thee, and to praise thy Name for all thy Mercies: Bless all our Friends, I beseech thee, that are on Land, and let their Prayers for us be acceptable in thy sight, and grant that our next meeting together may be for the better, and not for the worse, even to the praising and magnifying of thy Holy Name, and Salvation of our own Souls in the great day of the Lord Jesus, to whom with thee, and thy blessed Spirit, be ascribed all Honour, Power, and Glory, Adoration, and Subjection, now and for evermore.  
Amen.   

A Prayer before a Voyage.  
O ETERNAL God, even the God of our Salvation, the hope of all the ends of the Earth, and of them that remain in the wide Ocean, under the shadow of whose Wings we are always secure, and without whose protection we cannot expect safety; I have been, O Lord, preserved by thee until this moment from many dangers, for which I have not expressed my thankfulness in acknowledging those daily blessings I have received from thee; but, O Lord, forget and forgive those mani●old sins which I have committed against thee, and blot them out of thy Book of remembrance.  
PURGE me, O Lord, I beseech thee, from all vile affections; and grant I may bring forth the fruits of thy Spirit; go along with me with thy blessed Spirit in this my Voyage, preserve me from Pirates, Robbers and Enemies, defend me from Rocks, Sands and Shelves, and keep me from Thunder and Lightning, Storms and tempestuous Wether, or any other danger that may dismay me. To thee, O Lord, I commend my Body and Spirit, to dispose of me according to thy holy Will and Pleasure; if thou art pleased to call for my life upon the surface of the Waters; I know thy Almighty Word can command the Sea to give up her Dead at the last and great audit.  
But if thou hast determined to bring me safe to my desired Haven, give me thy Grace which is sufficient for me to walk according to thy holy Will in all things; make me to lay hold of Eternal Life, which as the Anchor of Hope, is both sure and steadfast; keep me from all temptations ghostly and bodily, and from sudden Death, and in thy good time bring me to the Land of the Living, there to reign with thee for evermore.  
Amen.   

A Thanksgiving after a Voyage.  
O IMMORTAL God, I have seen thy Works O Lord, and thy Wonders in the deep; thou spakest the Word and the storm Wind arose, which lifted up the Waves thereof but when we cried unto thee, thou madest the storm to cease, so that the Waves thereof were still; then did we rejoice because we were a●rest, and thou broughtest us safe to that Haven's where we would be: O that men would therefore praise thee, O Lord, for thy Goodness, and declare the Wonders thou dost continually for them.  
I BLESS thy Holy Name, for conducting me through those many dangers which encompassed me, and praise thy Mercy that the Deep hath not swallowed me up, and that I am not gone down into the place of silence. I also praise thy holy Name, and admire thy loving Kindness towards me, that thou hast not delivered up my Body and Goods as a prey into the hands of unreasonable Men, but hast brought me to my desired Haven, and at last returned me back in safety to my Habitation.  
O LET me never forget to pay those Vows I made to thee, when I was in trouble; but give me an awful sense and apprehension of thy great Power, and possess my Soul with a true Reverence of thy Divine Majesty; that I may evermore serve thee in holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life: Endue me with thy Holy Spirit; that I may become acceptable in thy sight, and may be fitted at length for future Glories, this I beg for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake, my only Saviour.  
Amen.   

A Prayer in a Storm.  
O LORD our God, thou hast commanded us in the day of Calamity to call upon thy Name, and thou hast promised to hear us; Lord, I fly unto thee, who art a sure refuge; thy Floodgates are opened, and the Floods lift up their ●ofty Waves. But thou, O Lord most high, art mightier than the noise of many Waters: yea, than the mighty Waves of the Sea: Thou canst in a moment, if it stand with thy Divine will and pleasure, rebuke the Winds and the Sea, and turn this Storm into a Calm.  
I KNOW I justly deserve to be cast away, and utterly to be rejected by thee; but Lord save us, or else we perish; accept of my unfeigned sorrow for all my sins and transgressions, and endue me with a steadfast resolution to forsake them; be merciful unto us O God, be merciful unto us and save us from perishing in these deep Waters; O refresh us with thy Mercy, and that soon, lest we go down into the place of silence, O comfort us in this great distress, that though the Sea rage and swell, our Hearts may be quiet and still in this time of our disconsolation.  
AND as I earnestly desire to be protected from this great peril and danger which now terrifies us, so I earnestly beseech thee, that thou wilt for ever fill my heart with ●●ch an awful dread of thy Majesty, that I may fear thy Name, and praise thy power in the great Congregation; awake my dull and drowsy Soul, from the sloth of Sin, and renew a right Spirit within me; fill me with the gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit, that I may live the life of the Righteous, and never forget thy lovingkindness; save us now from Death I beseech thee, from the merciless Waves who are now ready to swallow us up, and bring us home in safety for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake, our only Lord and Saviour.  
Amen.   

A Thanksgiving after a Storm.  
I PRAISE and glorify thy holy Name, O Lord, for all thy mercies and blessings vouchsafed unto me, especially for this thy last great Deliverance, wherein I was encompassed in that wide Ocean, whom thou hast set bounds and limits to; if thou, O Lord, hadst not been on my side, the Sea had swallowed me up quick, and I had gone down into the deep of silence; but thou hast been my God and my Deliverer, and hast put a new Song into my Mouth, even a Song of Praise and Thanksgiving unto my God.  
I ACKNOWLEDGE O Lord, that thou art the God of all the Earth, and of them that remain in the broad Sea: Blessed for ever, and magnified be thy Name, that thou hast not cast me out of thy sight, nor turned thy Mercy from me; I have escaped thy raging Sea, and the noise of the proud Waves have done me no harm, if thy Almighty Providence had not protected me, the streams had gone over my Soul: But the stormy Wind and Tempest I have narrowly escaped, the storm is ceased, and I am safely delivered.  
AND now what shall I render to thee O Lord, for this, and all other thy great benefits? I will offer up unto thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, and will pay those vows I so solemnly made unto thee when I was in trouble; I will evermore remember, that my help is in the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth, and that thou art that God that can and will deliver me; let this thy mercy and loving kindness never departed my memory, but let me praise thy goodness, and sing of thy power, unto my lives end.  
Amen.   
FINIS.