Youth; the Man was the greatest Man in the Mechanical Parts of the
Mathematicks, I had ever met with; my second Mate was an _Englishman_,
an excellent Seaman, as was my Gunner, who had been taken Prisoners at
_Campechy_, as well as the Master's Son; they told me the Ship was of
_New England_, from a Town called _Boston_. The Owner and the whole
Ship's Company came on board the thirtieth; and the Navigator of the
Ship, Captain _Shapley_, told me, his Owner was a fine Gentleman,
and _Major General_ of the largest Colony in _New England_, called
the _Maltechusets_; so I received him like a Gentleman, and told him
my Commission was to make a Prize of any People seeking a North-west
or West Passage into the _South Sea_; but I would look on them as
Merchants trading with the Natives for Bevers, Otters and other Furs
and Skins, and so for a small Present of Provisions I had no need
on, I gave him my Diamond Ring, which cost me twelve Hundred Pieces
of Eight (which the modest Gentleman received with difficulty) and
having given the brave Navigator _Captain Shapley_, for his fine Charts
and Journals, a Thousand Pieces of Eight, and the Owner of the Ship,
_Seimor Gibbons_, a quarter Cask of good _Peruan_ Wine, and the ten
Seamen, each twenty Pieces of Eight, the sixth of _August_, with as
much Wind as we could fly before and a Current, we arrived at the first
Fall of the River _Parmentiers_.'
_De Fonte_ makes no Delay, but immediately proceeds as the Case
required; finds an old Man aboard, the Man (as being a great Mechanick
might be very useful on such an Expedition) and a Youth, might venture
to stay, their Age would plead as to any Severity that might be
intended by _de Fonte_; and through the Fear of which Severity the
others retired into the Woods, where they could manage without being
sensible of those Difficulties which _Europeans_ apprehend. To leave
the Ship without any one aboard, _de Fonte_ could of Course have
taken her as being deserted; and by their Retirement into the Woods,
his Pursuit of them there would have alarmed the _Indians_, and more
especially if he had attempted any Severity, it might have been fatal
to him and his Company, from the Resistance they might have met with,
not only from the _Boston_ People, but the _Indians_ assisting them,
as they would have considered it as an Insult, an Exercise of Power
which they would apprehend he had no Right to use in those Parts, as
to a People who were trading with them, and been the Occasion that the
_Spaniards_ would have been no more received as Friends in those Parts.
_De Fonte_ had particularly provided himself with some _Englishmen_,
who, by a friendly Converse with the People from _Boston_, might
endeavour to learn their Secrets, and prepare them the better by
what they would be instructed to tell them to come to a Compliance
with the Admiral's Intentions. The Result of this Affair _de Fonte_
only mentions; but they would not have staid away so long, would
have returned sooner aboard, had they only left the Ship on Account
of Trade. Trade was only a secondary Object, the Discovery was the
principal, and they would not have staid in one Place, at this Season,
had they not been necessitated through a Fear of _de Fonte_ so to do.
It may be supposed the _Englishmen_ who were with _de Fonte_, two of
whom were from _Campechy_, and the other become Catholick, as he was
married to the Master's Daughter, they would not act either with much
Sincerity or Truth as to their own Countrymen, but managed with the old
Man to bring the Owner, Navigator, and rest of the Crew aboard.
On their return the Navigator of the Ship was the first who waited on
the Admiral, and he calls him Captain _Shapley_, his Name _Nicholas
Shapley_, who was famous as a Navigator, for his Knowledge in the
Mathematicks and other Branches of Science, that the common People
supposed he dealt in the Magick Art, and had the Name given him of _Old
Nick_, not by the People of _Boston_, but by a Set of Libertines as
they termed them, and who had separated from the People of _Boston_,
and gone to live by themselves at _Piscatua_, where he was settled
at a Place called _Kittery_, in the Province of _Main_; the Name of
_Kittery_ given by his Brother _Alexander Shapley_, to a Tract of Land
he had settled on there; and they write the Name _Shapley_ exactly in
the Manner in which it is wrote in the Letter. The Brother _Alexander_
was a Cotemporary at _Oxford_ with Captain _James_, who went on
Discovery, and his Acquaintance. The Descendants of _Alexander_, a
genteel People, were not many Years since living at _Kittery_; but
_Nicholas Shapley_ retired to _New London_, where he had a Son that
was living in the Year one Thousand seven Hundred and fifty-two, a
Fisherman. The Family at _Kittery_ were very shy as to giving any
Information as to what they knew in this Affair, upon an Application by
the Author of these Observations, or looking into _Alexander_'s Papers,
as an officious Person had got beforehand, and discouraged them from
giving any Gratification of this Sort, under Pretence, if their Papers
were seen, it might give some Insight into a Lawsuit depending between
the Branches of the Family, or expected to be commenced; and that
there was a great Reward for the Discovery of a North-west Passage,
which, if the Account was attained from them they would be intitled to
a Part, which by this Means they would be deprived of. Jealousies of
this Kind raised by a pretended, at least an ignorant Friend, against
the Application of a Stranger, who assured them he was superior to any
Trick of that Sort, and would give them any Satisfaction in his Power
as they should propose, occasioned a Disappointment. The Son of Captain
_Nicholas_, upon an Application made by the Author likewise, had
nothing but his Father's Sea Chest, in which, there were once a great
many Papers, and which his Mother, the Wife of Captain _Nicholas_,
made a great Account of; but the Son being an illiterate Man, had made
Use of them in the Family as waste Paper. I have mentioned him as
illiterate, but he was a well meaning Man, and he had heard his Mother
talk something about such an Affair; but I shall not lay a Stress upon
the Account he gave, as he may be supposed prompted by the earnest
Manner of the Inquiry to give grateful Answers, in Expectation of a
Reward. The Number of Settlers in all _Piscatua_, the Province of
_Main_ included, did not at that Time exceed four Hundred People, but
is now become a well settled Country; yet there was amongst the antient
People about _Kittery_, a Tradition of Captain _Nicholas_ having been
on such a Voyage, and as to which, on proper Application to Persons
who have Influence, and will make due Inquiry, it appears to me the
Publick will receive a farther Satisfaction than they may at present
expect. A considerable Merchant who lived at _Falmouth_ in _Piscatua_,
a Man of Character, no Way biassed for or against a North-west Passage,
but as he is since dead, I may take the Liberty to say, married a
Daughter of his late Excellency Governor _Weymouth_, mentioned an
Anecdote respecting his Father, who was a very antient Man: That
when the Dispute was between the late Governor _Dobbs_ and Captain
_Middleton_, he said, Why do they make such a Fuzz about this Affair,
our _Old Nick_ (meaning Captain _Shapley_) was through there? And this
antient Gentleman had been an Intimate of Captain _Shapley_'s.
Early in the Year before this Voyage Major General _Gibbons_ went with
others over to _Piscatua_, to have a Conference about Church Matters;
and Mr. _Alexander Shapley_ was one on the Part of the Settlers in
_Piscatua_, and who had but returned from _England_ the Fall before. At
this Meeting, probably, they fixed on the Time and Manner of executing
the Design, which they had before concerted. This whole Affair was
concerted in an obscure Part, the Affair not known to the People of
_Boston_, as it was more to the Purpose of those who undertook it
to keep it a Secret; and probably Major _Gibbons_ was more inclined
it should be so, as he had before met with two Disappointments. The
Characters of the Persons were such, as by whom it is very reasonable
to suppose such an Expedition might be undertaken. Mr. _Alexander
Shapley_ was a Merchant, a lively, active, enterprising Man; sufficient
to this Purpose hath been said of his Brother: And we may add to the
Character of Major General _Gibbons_, it was said of him, that he
was much of a Gentleman, a brave, social and friendly Man, had the
latter End of the Year 1639 a Commission to be Captain of the Fort,
was one of the Council, also concerned in Church Matters, as appears
from Records. But during the Time that this Voyage was making, that
worthy Pastor of _Boston_ and great Antiquarian Mr. _Prince_, who,
from a generous Disposition to get at the Truth, used extraordinary
Industry in this Affair, by searching the Records in the old Church
there in the Year 1752, could not find his Hand set to any Thing, or
any Matters relating to Major General _Gibbons_, tho' he found Papers
signed by him frequently before, and other Transactions in which he is
mentioned to be concerned, also after the Time of this Voyage, and the
only Objection that he could find was, that the Wife of Major General
_Gibbons_ must have had a seven Months Child, if he went on such
Voyage, as it was a Custom in the Church of _Boston_, at that Time,
that the Child should be brought to be baptized the _Sunday_ after
it was born; and by the Register it appears that this was the Case,
according to the Time that it must be supposed he returned.
The Name was _Edward Gibbons_; and _Seimor_ is a Mistake of the
Translator, not observing that as _de Fonte_ respectfully stiles
_Shapley_ Captain, he would not mention the Owner by his Christian Name
only, a fine Gentleman and a Major General, but stiles him agreeable
thereto after the _Spanish_ Manner _Sennor_; and this Mistake of the
Translator, as to the Name, and not observing that the _Major General_
and the Owner were one and the same Person, shews that the Translator
and Editors knew nothing of the Persons mentioned.
What is said of the largest Colony in _New England_, called the
_Maltechusets_: The Dominions of _New England_ consisted, at that Time,
of the Colonies of _Plymouth_, _Massachusets_, and _Connecticut_, of
which _Massachusets_ was the largest, as _New Hampshire_, _Piscatua_,
and the Province of _Main_, were under its Jurisdiction: And it is a
little remarkable that the Admiral should call it the _Maltechusets_;
he apprehended it a Mistake, though so exact as to the Names _Shapley_
and _Gibbons_; seems to have given the Alteration agreeable to his own
Ideas, and that it must have Reference to _Malta_.
The old Man told them the Ship was of _New England_, from the Town
called _Boston_, which was the only Place where they could fit out
properly or conveniently, the Part where _Shapley_ lived consisting
only of a few scattered Houses, and as it was very frequent from
_Boston_ to make Voyages to the Northward, their true Design for
further Discoveries might remain a Secret to all but themselves.
_De Fonte_'s Address to _Gibbons_ as the Owner, represented so on
this Occasion to serve the Purpose, though the Vessel seems to have
been _Alexander Shapley_'s, implies that he understood, or took the
Advantage on finding they had been trading with the _Indians_, that
they had two Purposes in their Undertaking, to discover a Passage, and
to trade. As to the first, _de Fonte_ tells him he had an Order to
make a _Prize of any People seeking a West or North-west Passage_,
speaking in general Terms, not of them only, so concealing the Advice
he had received as to their particular undertaking of this Discovery;
nor could it be peculiarly understood as to the Subjects of _England_,
for the _Danes_ also, to their immortal Honour, had before attempted
the same Discovery; and in Consequence let him know that the Part he
was in was of the Dominions of the Crown of _Spain_, as his Commission
could be of no Force beyond the Extent of that Dominion. _De Fonte_'s
Address likewise implied, that as he would consider them only as
Traders, that he would not make Prisoners of them on that Account; but
expected after this Adventure that others would learn to keep nearer
home, for Fear of falling into a like Accident, and meeting not with
the same favourable Treatment. Nevertheless he takes effectual Measures
to embarrass them on their Return, and obliges them to stay no longer
in those Parts, as he takes from them what _de Fonte_ calls a small
Present of Provisions, which he had no Need on, but he knew they might,
and as to which, the Affair of Provisions, he gave such an Attention
to, through the Course of his Voyage; and though small what he accepted
in respect to the Subsistance of those he had with him, yet as the
Sequel will shew, was afterwards the Occasion of infinite Distress to
the _Boston_ People. The Gift in return, which is pompously mentioned
at twelve Hundred Pieces of Eight, when we consider the Price Things
bore of this Sort where he purchased it, in _Peru_, as he estimates by
Pieces of Eight, the Manner of Valuation in those Parts, would not be
to _Gibbons_ a Hundred Pounds Sterling; and the Present to the Seamen
must be considered as in lieu of these Provisions; and by this Means of
mutual Presents countenanced what was absolutely extorted by Force, as
was the Case with _Shapley_, as to his Charts and Journals, which he
would not have parted with, but constrained through Fear; and by his
_English_ Seamen _de Fonte_ could let them know that the Provisions,
Charts, and Journals would be acceptable. He executed his Design in
this Manner, that if the _Boston_ People returned there could be no
proper Foundation for the Court of _England_ to take Umbrage at his
Proceeding.
The Generosity of _de Fonte_ so exceeding what their Present and the
Charts and Journals could be worth, would be considered as to make
them some Satisfaction for their Disappointment; for the Fears they
had been put into, and their being detained there; the Gift of Wine,
might be from a Respect to _Major General Gibbons_, as an Officer,
whom _de Fonte_ stiles modest, tho' he might perceive it to be the
Effect of his Uneasiness on being thus intercepted. In all other
Respects, what he gave was a Debt which the Crown of _Spain_ would
pay, would be considered as Money advanced in their Service; a Sum of
no Consideration with them, as he had met with these People, procured
their Charts by which they got into the Secret, by what Way they had
advanced so far, and probably very particular Charts and Journals of
the other Voyagers whom _Gibbons_ was acquainted with; and he would
endeavour to be furnished with all Materials which he could probably
procure before that he set out. It would be greatly commended by the
Court of _Spain_ the artful Management of _de Fonte_ in distressing
these People, and not with a seeming Intention, and giving an absolute
Discouragement to other Adventurers, who would be afraid of falling
into the _Spaniards_ Hands, whom it would be supposed constantly
frequented those Parts.
_De Fonte_ only mentions the Issue of this Affair, what would be
immediately necessary for the Court to know; he mentions no intervening
Circumstances, nor what Time there was between their Examination and
the Presents, whether he or they sailed first, but it must be supposed
they were more than a Day together, and that _de Fonte_ would see them
out of those Parts, as, if they had staid longer, they might probably
have supplied themselves well with Provisions, and proceeded further;
but as they were circumstanced, they would be put under a Necessity to
set out for home, would be glad to leave him the first Opportunity; and
as _de Fonte_ seems to be waiting for a Wind, which he had the sixth of
_August_, and it had in the interim been fair for the _Boston_ People,
they were certainly gone before that _de Fonte_ set out on his Return.
In the Ecclesiastical History of _New England_, by the Reverend _Cotton
Mather_, published at _London_ in 1702, in Folio, in his Account of
wonderful Sea Deliverances, Book the sixth, is _The wonderful Story of
Major Gibbons_.
'Among remarkable _Sea Deliverances_, no less than three several
Writers have published that wherein Major _Edward Gibbons_ was
concerned. A Vessel bound from _Boston_ to some other Parts of
_America_, was, through the Continuance of contrary Winds, kept so
long at Sea, that the People aboard were in extreme straits for Want
of Provision, and seeing that nothing here below could afford them
any Relief, they looked upwards unto Heaven, in humble and fervent
Supplications. The Winds continuing still as they were, one of the
Company made a sorrowful Motion that they should, by a _Lot_, single
out _One_ to die, and by Death to satisfy the ravenous Hunger of the
rest. After many a doleful and fearful Debate upon this Motion, they
came to a Result, that _it must be done_! The _Lot_ is cast; one of
the Company is taken; but where is the Executioner that shall do the
terrible Office upon a poor Innocent? It is a Death now to think who
shall act this bloody Part in the Tragedy: But before they fall upon
this involuntary and unnatural Execution, they once more went unto
their zealous _Prayers_; and, behold, while they were calling upon
God, he answered them, for there leaped a mighty Fish into their Boat,
which, to their double Joy, not only quieted their outrageous Hunger,
but also gave them some Token of a further Deliverance: However, the
Fish is quickly eaten; the horrible _Famine_ returns, the horrible
Distress is renewed; a black Despair again seizes their Spirits: For
another Morsel they come to a second _Lot_, which fell upon another
Person; but still they cannot find an Executioner: They once again
fall to their importunate Prayers; and, behold, a second Answer from
above; a great Bird lights, and fixes itself on the mast; one of the
Men spies it, and there it stands until he took it by the Wing with
his Hand. This was a second _Life from the Dead_. This Fowl, with the
Omen of a further Deliverance in it, was a sweet Feast unto them. Still
their Disappointments follow them; they can see no Land; they know not
where they are: Irresistable Hunger once more pinches them: They have
no Hope to be saved but by _a third Miracle_: They return to another
_Lot_; but before they go to the Heart-breaking Talk of slaying the
Person under _Designation_, they repeat their Addresses unto the God of
Heaven, their former _Friend in Adversity_; and now they look and look
again, but there is nothing: Their Devotions are concluded, and nothing
appears; yet they hoped, yet they staid, yet they lingered: At last one
of them spies a Ship, which put a new Hope and Life into them all: They
bear up with their Ship; they man their Longboat; they go to board the
Vessel, and are admitted. It proves a _French_ Pyrate: Major _Gibbons_
Petitions for a little Bread, and offers all for it; but the Commander
was one who had formerly received considerable Kindnesses of Major
_Gibbons_ at _Boston_, and now replied chearfully, Major _Gibbons_, not
an Hair of you, or your Company, shall _perish if it lies in my Power
to_ preserve _you_. Accordingly he supplied their Necessities, and they
made a comfortable End of their Voyage.'
There are nine other Accounts, in each of which the Places the Persons
were bound to are particularly mentioned. In this Account (the Design
being only to shew the wonderful Deliverance of _Gibbons_) Dr. _Mather_
could not mention the Place to which the Voyage had been made in any
other Manner, than _to some other Parts of America_, which hath an
exact Correspondence with the Voyage in which Major _Gibbons_ was
intercepted by _de Fonte_; for that Voyage was properly to several
Parts, not being to one particular Part of _America_; which Parts were,
at that Time, nameless. It is said further, that their Misfortune
was occasioned by contrary Winds. _De Fonte_ had a fair Wind from
the sixth of _August_ to the fifth of _September_, and for a longer
Time, so contrary to the _Boston_ Ship; afterwards they had the Wind
again contrary, when they came into the Ocean, being North-west or to
Westward of it, as they could see no Land; the Land expected to be seen
may be supposed the Land of _Newfoundland_, or they were to Eastward
and Southward of the Gulph of _St. Lawrence_: And which Account of the
Weather is agreeable to the Time of the Year that they were there,
the latter End of _September_, or Beginning of _October_, being the
Equinoctial Gales. Also as to the Fish which must have been a Sturgeon,
which Fish frequently jump into Boats; and shews, as the Boat was
out, that they had then moderate Weather, but contrary; though a hard
Gale succeeded, as one of the Birds of Passage, which are also then
going to Southward, was blown off the Coast and tired, rested on the
Mast. Far be it from me to reckon these as mere Accidents, and not the
Assistances of the Almighty, but a Relief which the Almighty sent them
by Contingencies which are natural: And as to the Ship, which was a
_French_ Pirate, she had probably come with a fresh Wind out of the
Gulph of _St. Lawrence_, and Standing to Eastward of _Sables_ to clear
that Island and _Nautuchet_, for which she had a fair Wind; and it
is said the Commander had an Acquaintance with Major _Gibbons_, and
received Favours from him at _Boston_; but I must add an Anecdote, to
shew that there might also be another Reason assigned, which would not
be suitable to be published with that Account; _Alexander Shapley_ had
used to hold a Correspondence with these Kind of Gentry, as is evident
from a severe Censure on him on that Account, recorded in the Council
Book at _Boston_. It was a _Ship_ that Major _Gibbons_ was in when
intercepted by _de Fonte_; and this Account also mentions a Ship. After
the Death of _Major Gibbons_, his Family, according to the Account of a
very ancient Gentlewoman at _Boston_, removed to _Bermuda_; which Lady,
who was near ninety Years of Age, had some traditional Account of the
_Major_ having been such a Voyage to discover a new Way to the _East
Indies_, and suffered much from the Snow and Ice, went through a great
many Hardships, and, she said, she thought it was from _Boston_ that he
set out. The Persons discovered by Mons. _Groseliers_, at what he calls
an _English_ Settlement, near Port _Nelson_, as it is now termed, were
_Benjamin_ the Son of Captain _Zachary Gillam_, and some others, from
_Boston_, who were the same Year taken to _Canada_, whose Journal of
that Voyage the Author hath seen, and this Circumstance is mentioned
in it, which Persons have been mistaken for Major _Gibbons_ and his
Company.
'We arrived at the River _Parmentiers_ the 11th of _August_ 86 Leagues,
and was on the South Side Lake _Belle_ on board our Ships the 16th of
_August_, before the fine Town _Conosset_, where we found all Things
well, and the honest Natives of _Conosset_ had, in our Absence, treated
our People with great Humanity, and Capt. _de Ronquillo_ answered their
Civility and Justice.'