The voyage of M. Hore and divers other gentlemen, to
Newfoundland
, and Cape Briton, in the yere 1536 and
in the 28 yere of king Henry the 8.
ONE master Hore of London, a man of goodly stature
and of great courage, and given to the studie of Cosmographie, in the 28 yere of king Henry the 8 and in the
yere of our Lord 1536 encouraged divers Gentlemen and
others, being assisted by the kings favour and good
countenance, to accompany him in a voyage of discoverie
upon the Northwest parts of America
: wherein his perswasions tooke such effect, that within short space many
gentlemen of the Innes of court, and of the Chancerie,
and divers others of good worship, desirous to see the
strange things of the world, very willingly entred into
the action with him, some of whose names were as
followeth: M. Weekes a gentleman of the West countrey
of five hundred markes by the yeere living. M. Tucke
a gentleman of Kent. M. Tuckfield. M. Thomas Buts
the sonne of Sir William Buts knight, of Norfolke, which
was lately living, and from whose mouth I wrote most
of this relation. M. Hardie, M. Biron, M. Carter, M.
Wright, M. Rastall Serjeant Rastals brother, M. Ridley,
and divers other, which all were in the Admyrall called
the Trinitie, a ship of seven score tunnes, wherein M.
Hore himselfe was imbarked. In the other ship whose
name was the Minion, went a very learned and vertuous
gentleman one M. Armigil Wade, Afterwardes Clerke of
the Counsailes of king Henry the 8 and king Edward
the sixth, father to the worshipfull M. William Wade
now Clerke of the privie Counsell, M. Oliver Dawbeney
marchant of London
, M. Joy afterward gentleman of
the Kings Chappel, with divers other of good account.
The whole number that went in the two tall ships aforesaid, to wit, the Trinitie and the Minion, were about sixe
score persons, whereof thirty were gentlemen, which all
we mustered in warlike maner at
Graves-end, and after
the receiving of the Sacrament, they embarked themselves
in the ende of Aprill. 1536.
From the time of their setting out from Gravesend
,
they were very long at sea, to witte, above two moneths,
and never touched any land untill they came to part of
the West Indies about
Cape Briton, shaping their course
thence Northeastwardes, untill they came to the
Island
of Penguin, which is very full of rockes and stones,
whereon they went and found it full of great foules white
and gray, as big as geese, and they saw infinite numbers
of their egges. They drave a great number of the foules
into their boates upon their sayles, and tooke up many
of their egges, the foules they flead and their skinnes
were very like hony combes full of holes being flead off:
they dressed and eate them and found them to be very
good and nourishing meat. They saw also store of
beares both blacke and white, of whome they killed some,
and tooke them for no bad foode.
M. Oliver Dawbeny, which (as it is before mentioned)
was in this voyage, and in the Minion, told M. Richard
Hakluyt of the middle Temple these things following:
to wit, That after their arrivall in Newfoundland
, and
having bene there certaine dayes at ancre, and not having
yet seene any of the naturall people of the countrey, the
same Dawbeney walking one day on the hatches, spied
a boate with Savages of those parts, rowing downe the
Bay toward them, to gaze upon the ship and our people,
and taking vewe of their comming aloofe, hee called to
such as were under the hatches, and willed them to come
up if they would see the natural people of the countrey,
that they had so long and so much desired to see: whereupon they came up, and tooke viewe of the Savages
rowing toward them and their ship, and upon the viewe
they manned out a ship-boat to meet them and to take
them. But they spying our ship-boat making towards
them, returned with maine force and fled into an Island
that lay up in the Bay or river there, and our men pursued
them into the Island, and the Savages fledde and escaped:
but our men found a fire, and the side of a beare on
a wooden spit left at the same by the Savages that were
fled.
There in the same place they found a boote of leather
garnished on the outward side of the calfe with certaine
brave trailes, as it were of rawe silke, and also found a
certaine great warme mitten: And these caryed with
them, they returned to their shippe, not finding the
Savages, nor seeing any thing else besides the soyle, and
the things growing in the same, which chiefly were store
of firre and pine trees.
And further, the said M. Dawbeny told him, that lying
there they grew into great want of victuals, and that
there they found small reliefe, more then that they had
from the nest of an Osprey, that brought hourely to her
yong great plentie of divers sorts of fishes. But such
was the famine that increased amongst them from day
to day, that they were forced to seeke to relieve themselves of raw herbes and rootes that they sought on the
maine: but the famine increasing, and the reliefe of
herbes being to little purpose to satisfie their insatiable
hunger, in the fieldes and deserts here and there, the
fellowe killed his mate while he stooped to take up a
roote for his reliefe, and cutting out pieces of his bodie
whom he had murthered, broyled the same on the coles
and greedily devoured them.
By this meane the company decreased, and the officers
knew not what was become of them; And it fortuned
that one of the company driven with hunger to seeke
abroade for reliefe found out in the fieldes the savour of
broyled flesh, and fell out with one for that he would
suffer him and his fellowes to sterve, enjoying plentie as
he thought: and this matter growing to cruell speaches,
he that had the broyled meate, burst out into these
wordes: If thou wouldest needes know, the broyled meate
that I had was a piece of such a mans buttocke. The
report of this brought to the ship, the Captaine found
what became of those that were missing, & was perswaded that some of them were neither devoured with
wilde beastes, nor yet destroyed with Savages: And
hereupon hee stood up and made a notable Oration,
containing, Howe much these dealings offended the
Almightie, and vouched the Scriptures from first to last,
what God had in cases of distresse done for them that
called upon him, and told them that the power of the
Almighty was then no lesse, then in al former time it
had bene. And added, that if it had not pleased God to
have holpen them in that distresse, that it had bene better
to have perished in body, and to have lived everlastingly,
then to have relieved for a poore time their mortal
bodyes, and to bee condemned everlastingly both body
and soule to the unquenchable fire of hell. And thus
having ended to that effect, he began to exhort to repentance, and besought all the company to pray, that it might
please God to looke upon their miserable present state,
and for his owne mercie to relieve the same. The famine
increasing, and the inconvenience of the men that were
missing being found, they agreed amongst themselves
rather then all should perish, to cast lots who should be
killed: And such was the mercie of God, that the same
night there arrived a French ship in that port, well
furnished with vittaile, and such was the policie of the
English, that they became masters of the same, and
changing ships and vittailing them, they set sayle to come
into England
.
In their journey they were so farre Northwards, that
they sawe mighty Islands of yce in the sommer season,
on which were haukes and other foules to rest themselves
being weary of flying over farre from the maine. They
sawe also certaine great white foules with red bils and red
legs, somewhat bigger then Herons, which they supposed
to be Storkes. They arrived at St. Ives
in
Cornewall
about the ende of October. From thence they departed
unto a certaine castle belonging to sir John Luttrell,
where M. Thomas Buts, and M. Rastall and other Gentlemen of the voyage were very friendly entertained: after
that they came to the Earle of Bathe at Bathe, and thence
to Bristoll, so to London
. M. Buts was so changed in
the voyage with hunger and miserie, that sir William his
father and my Lady his mother knew him not to be their
sonne, untill they found a secret marke which was a wart
upon one of his knees, as hee told me Richard Hakluyt
of Oxford himselfe, to whom I rode 200. miles onely to
learne the whole trueth of this voyage from his own
mouth, as being the onely man now alive that was in this
discoverie.
Certaine moneths after, those Frenchmen came into
England
, and made complaint to king Henry the 8: the
king causing the matter to be examined, and finding
the great distresse of his subjects, and the causes of the
dealing so with the French, was so mooved with pitie,
that he punished not his subjects, but of his owne purse
made full and royall recompence unto the French.
In this distresse of famine, the English did somewhat
relieve their vitall spirits, by drinking at the springs the
fresh water out of certaine wooden cups, out of which
they had drunke their Aqua composita before.
