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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1870-05-13, Page 6i! 4 • Sir George Somers and his Shipwreck Upon the Bermudas in 1601). 11010.111.••••••••. BY JAMES PARTON. We are pleasantly remindeil, atthis spr time of the yea, of the Bermuda Isla,n by the abundance of new potatotes broug thence by every arriving steamer, and exh bited wherevee vegetables are sold., Th islands, one would thirds-, ought to belong the United States, from the nearest po ofwhichthey are distant only six hundr mile & Why they do not belong to United States, how they became subject Great Britain, and whence they deriv their two names—Bermudas and 0. omer lands—the rea.der may galher from t , strange tale which I am about tor,elate. In the year 1609, a fleet of nine- vess sailed from England, having on board mo than five hundred persons, bound for t Engli.sh colony in . Virginia, planted Jamestown two years before. The admir commanding this fleet was Sir George S roars, am -an of note among the naval hero who had won &sanction, in the reign - Elizabeth, against the Spaniards. The v sel in, which he sailed, the largest and fine of the fleet, *as called the Sea Ventur and on board of her were a new Deputy -9- vernor of Virginia, Sir Thomas Gates, an several gentleman of wealth and positio intending to cast in their lot with the Vi gin color_y. There were also . on bow. this ;vessel a few women and children. All weyat well with the fleet until reached a point not far distant from t ,coast of Florida, -when it had been seve weeks at sea. ,July- the 25th, a hiinican struck the Sea -Vulture, which drove h north -ward oyea-the foaming ocean, for thre days and three nights, separating her fro ihe other vessels iof thet fleet - ,The strained ship sprang a lea,k, and a hands were set to pumping and bailing,, leu in spite of their exertions the water gaine upon them, until the men below, who wer passing up pails and kettles, stood in a wate up to their waists. Worn ont with toil _many of the men gave up, and were dispo ed to batten down the hatches and -festal the issue. Some of them brought fro their stores bottles of liquor, drank to on another, and then lay down upon the dee and fell fast asleep. e There was one man, however, on boar who remained at his post, and did his dut —the Admiral, Sir George Somers. Whe the storm first struck the Ship, he took h place at the helm, and there, as one of h comrades afterward wrote, "he sat thre days and three nights together, without meal's meat, and little or no sleep, steerin the ship to keep her as upright as he coul for otherwise she must needs instantly hav foundered." There he still sat on the thir day, -while the greater part of the crew, a the same chroniclern y informs, "-were falle asleep in corners, and wheresoevm the chanced first to sit ox lie." With his .hand w upon the helm and his eyes peering into the distance, he remained hour after hour. "LD !" cried the -admiral at lenalli The word woke the sleepers, and ne strength. into the exhausted. The. pumping was resumed, and the ship kept frolic sin* ing until, she Struck between two rocks, which held her fast and upright' as in a dock, a.bout half a mile from the land which the Admiral had discovered. Instantly, as iriby miracle, the wind lulled ; so that they were soon able to hoist out their boats, and convey the whole company, a hundred and fifty in number, to the shore. • And notonly the people' were saved, but a great part of the provisions, utensils, cordage, sails,. and iron -work of the ship. The land upon which these tempest toss- ed mariners had been. cast was one of, the Bermuda Islands, the one now called St. George, which is the largest of the group. The islands are four hundred in number, but only nine of them are large enough to be inhabited ; the rest of them being little more than. rocks in the ocean. The entire nhabitable area, does not exceed twenty quare If the escape of the company seemed mi- aculous, the island also appeared to the ondering minds to have been. miraculous- y- prepared for their coming. No sooner' ad Sir George Somers secured his passen- ers, and all of the contents of the ship that mild be moved, than he looked about' him o ascertain what there would be for the apport of so large a naimber of persons -ecked upon land Which no ship could be easonably expected to appivaelta These lands had an ill name aniong sailors. Not nly were storms -supposed to rage about lora continually but they were reputed to e the abode of malign spirits, and the scene f horrible enchantments, such as Shakes- eare has described in "The -Tempest." °thing of this, however, appeared to the eve comers. - "Every man," says an old tract before e, "disposed and applied himself to search r and to seek out sach relief and suStenae on as the country afforded ; and Sir Geo. °Tilers, tamer). inuied to extremeties, and nowing what there unto belonged, was in is service neither idle or backward ; but resentIy, by his careful industry, went and und, gut sufficient of many kind of fishes, d so plenty thereof, that in half an hour e took so many fishes with hooks as did ffice the whole company one day. Of some fish they could take a thou- ud a draught ; and they found along e shore countless eggs of herons and other a -birds. Turtles, broad -backed and very t, the largest furnishing a dinner for fifty en, floatect on the surface of the -tranquil a; some of thtm containing a bushel" of Beate and nutritious eggs. So numerous re they that forty large ones were taken a day. But what astonished the ship- ecked colonists most, was to find the is - ds abounding in hogs. It seems that anish navigator, Bermudez, from where ing ds, ht oae to int ed the to ed Is - he els re he at al o- es of es- st e ; o- n, r- -d it he 11 er 11 s- is is a _ THE the group was named, 'while conveying a load of sveine, in 1522, from Spain to the West Indies, was wrecked upon the islands, and a large number of his :togs swam ashore,. There were such nambers of them running wild in the woods, that Sir George Somers, on the first day that he hunted them, killed thirty-two. And as to wild fol, they could be captured with the naked hand. In these pleasant islands, shaded by no- ble trees, and cooled hy the breezes of the ocean the colonists established themselves. Two children were born there; a girl who was christened Bermuda, and a boy who was called Bermudas A. marriage was also celebrated; feuds and factions arose, and life went on very much as it goes on every- where. The Admiral, however, and the officers with him, aware of the.ill name which the Bermudas bore among sailors, and that ships avoided them as vexed with evil spirits, set about preperatioas for transport- ing the company to Viiginia. Two large pinnaces were built of the Bermuda cedar, and rigged with the cordage from the wreck, the Admiral himself laboring "from morning till night, as duly as any workman cloth label- for wages." After a residence upon the island of nearly ten months, from July 28t1i., 1609, to May 10th, 1610, the whole company embarked, with a supply of turtles, oil, and salted pork, procured upon the island, and set sail for Virginia. Fourteen days after, the two pinnaces set anchor in the James river, op- posite Jamestown, where they found sixty starving wretches, subsisting upon root; herbs nuts, and a little fish whenthey could catch any. -Three hitildred had miserably perished of hunger and disease, and in ten days longer there probably would not have .been one left alive to tell the tale. , The minds of the survivors were not less disordered than their bodies. When Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers ask- ed them how they had fallen into a plight so deplorable, they gave in reply nothing but bitter recriminations and repinings, each accusing the others of insubordination. The two knights saw that but one course was opentothem, and that was to convey the colony with all spe,ed to a place where it could be fed. There were then about two hundred of them, and they .had provisions for fourteen days. They resolved to go on board their vessels and make all sail for NeWfoinicllond, where they hoped to pro- cure provisions from the fishing fleet, and passage home to England, With this in- tent, on the 8th of June, 1610, in the after- noon, the whole company embarked. Some of them held the place where they had so keenly suffered in such abhorrence, that they wished to set Jamestown on fire, and burn it from the face of the earth. This, hOwever, Sir Thomas Gates forbade, and the town was spared. Itt four small vessels the colonists glided away down the broad and yellow James with the returning tide, relieved, and hap- py only to change the scene. The next moening, what was their amazement to see approaching them from the ocean, a -well- in lined -English long -boat! When it drew near, they learned to their unbounded .joy that it had. been sent to sound the river by Lord Delaware, Captain -General of Virgi- nia, who had arrived that morning with three vessels filled with supplies of all kinds, and bringing a:powerful reinforcement of emigrants. The four pinnaces turned their prows up the Etre** again and went back to Jamestown, rejoiaing now that the De- puty -Governor had interfered to prevent its destruction. The next day Lord Dela- ware's fleet arrived. His lordship came on shore, and after a solemn religious service, he read his commission and de -livered an ad- dress to the colonists, rebuking the , pride and idleness which had well-nigh proven the ruin of Virginia. I Lord Delaware, hearing from the Ad- miral of the marvellous productiveness of the Bermudas, and especially of the num- ber of hogs running wild in the woods, asked him to go hither and bring back a supply to help through the next winter. It was an humble task for a man of his rank, but he accepted it, and set sail in the very pinnace which his own hands had help- ed to build. He arrived safely at the gioup; where exerting himselfbeyond his strength, he fell sick and died.. His companions, ore of whom was his own son, regardless of their duty to the colony, set sail for Eng- land. Such glowing accounts were pnblisied of Bermuda—or the Somers Islands, as they were then called—that a colony was soon planted there, and the Islands have never since been without inhabitants. At the be- ginning of the revolutionary war, when the colony was feeble and ill -defended, , Paul Jones urged Congress to seize and hold them for the United States. His advice was not taken, and they remain under the dominion of Great Britain,and one of her penal col- onies. The population is now about fifteen thousand, and the islands cost the British Government several thousand pounds a year more than the revenue. The Govern- or, however, receives a salary equal to fif- teen thousand dollars per annum. A HAPPY FAMILY. —A few days ago, a little boy, son of Mr. Whittaker, Osbur's Hotel, brought home two wild rabbits about a fortniglit old. He put them on the floor for his brothers and sisters to see, when a little bitch that had cast her pups a month previous., at once took a fancy to them, and began to caressthem—an act of kindness that wasreciprocated by the little strangers beginning to draw their means of sustenance from their new mother. This singular in- stance of mutual affection has gone on ap- parently increasing ever since, the mother evert day becoming more proud of her adop- ted children.— 0 swestry Advertiser. HURON EXPOSITOR The Damage a Pretty Servant Com- mitted. About three years ago, a sun of fairest omen shone upon a wedding in the little town of Hamilton, Ohio. The happy pair were a young man of high connections, un- blemithed charaater, and some artistic at- tainments, and a young lady from on.e of the most respectable families in the neigh- bouring town. Every circumstance of the union, as is often the case, gave promise of harmony and happiness for the lives united ; the husband was in thriving business ; the wife was fair, devoted, and an admirable house -keeper, and the friends of both pre- dicted for them that, long should they live, happy shoukl they be, blect with con- tent and from misfortune free. • Such, indeed, might have been their en- viable destiny, but for a pretty girl. Itt the seoond 'year of their marriage there came to Hamilton, apparently in quest of employ- ment, one of those beautiful, homeless young, natural sinners who seem to drift every- where about. the world for the profanation of happY homes. She drifted into thtali-ves of the two mated ones introduced above, and _ with 120 more effort than such tempers ge- nerally seem to make, caught the husband's heart and wove an extricable web around it: The wife blinded herself to the unhap- py event 80 long as she could, hoping against hope for the man's final strength to break from the spell cast over hum, but, at last, wounded honor and affection could be silent no longer, and wife spoke to husband as was her right. The accused made no denial of his infatuation, he said that he _could not help it; that lie must leave- the place or be lest. Willing to both aid in the rescue and forgive the captivator, the wife proposed that they should move to St Louis, thus resist- ing temptation by flying from it. Quick oonsent was given by the bewitched hus- band, and they removed to the great city. Shortly after settling there, the wife, while on a shopping excursion sa-v in the street the girl from whom she had once withdrawn - as she hoped forever. Rendered miserable and suspicious by the circunistance, she fol- lowed her enemy to a house in a side street, where at the .door stood the husband, wait- ing! Without hesitation the wife darted to the side of the abashed man, silently caught his arm, and fairly compelled him to go with her into the building 'Which she whom she pursued had just entered. - Fol- lowing the girl of Hamilton into a room, she led herhusband forward and said, "You have made this man it traitor to himself and his God. You have broken my heart and destroyed a happy home. "My husband thinks too much of you to care forme, and I now solemnly relinquish to you all my claims upon him, and bid you both good -by forever." - Without another word or look she hur- riecl from the house, and before the day was over had left the city. Not to seek the only comfOrt that the betrayed and wretched may know, in the silent sympathy of old friends and a life of humble resignation be- fore God ; not to pledge -madly through death's momentary darkness and forgetful- ness into an eternity ofdivine 'wrath; but to fly to another city, and there deliberate- ly enter upon a career as degraded -as her whole former life bad been noble! There she is now, beyond help; because she still loves her ruined husband, and, believing that his soul is lost, chooses rather to be withlim hereafter in perdition, than with- out him in heaven. itifs• MATERNAL AFFECTION IN A BIRD. —On one occasion Wilson caught a young. scar- let tangara that had been a few days. out of the nest, and - carried it to a distance of about half -a -mile, when he placed it in a cage near the nest of a yellow bird, thinking that, as the occupant lied a family of her own, she Might take pity on the stranger, iln this hope he was deceived, its plaintive cries being entirely disregarded; nor could it be persuaded to take food from his hand. He hacl almost decided on taking the poor bird to the place whence it came, when to- wards evening a scarlet tangarawas seen flying round the cage, and making every effort to obtain admission. Not succeeding in its attempte, the bird flew away, speedily returning with a, beakful of, food ; this con- tinued till sun set,- when it perched for the night upon a neighboring tree. At _break of day its ministrations recommenced, in spite of all the enmity testified by its neigh- bor, the yellow bird, who tried to drive- it from the spot. Several clays and nights were spent in this manner, the parent urg- ing the yoang one by every tender persua- sion of which it was capable to leave. its pri- son and accompany her. At last the cage was opened, and the little captive permit- ted to iejoin its mother, who received it with loud demonsttations of affection and delight. Half the world are seeking to live with- out working at all. And of those who ex- ert themselves, one half are seeking by work to reach a point where work may be dispen- sed with. To live, fiist or last, without toil is the ideal of young and old. Oh,' says the dreaming young man, that somebody would die and leave me half a million!' His idea of blessedness is that of having no- thing to do. Why, a man that does no- thing is not half so good as a vegetable ; for even the turnip grows. There are many that seek, by working so mauy years, to get a diploma that shall set them free from the necessity of *ork. Then they will not need tc work any longer. Retiring it is called; for that is the elegant and embel- lished name of genteel laziness. Do not talk to your child of your right over him, or of the limits of your right; but exercise this right so that the child shall feel and acknowledge it himself, without thinking of looking for its limits, -15'• WATCHES. WATOHE)S CLOCKS WATCHES CLOCKS WATCHES CLOCKS . WATCHES CLOCK'S WATCHES CLOCKS WATCHES CLOCKS WATCHES CLOCKS / WATCHES CLOCKS - WATCHES CLOCKS WATCHES CLOCKS theLargest ol iefouanatul:. R. and at AssortedCONTSEtR'tocs, in Otto olf ine, ist OPPOSITE CARMICHAEL'S HOTEL. SEAFORTII, March 31, 1870. 52-- SPRI1G GOODS. WM. CAMPBELL Merchant Tailor, HAS JUST RECEIVED A COMPLETE STOCK - –0 7— SPRING GOODS! EMBRACING EVERY STYLE THAT WILL BE WORN FOR SPRINC*SUMMER ALL GAIZIVIENTS GOT UP .BY THE BEST WORKMEN. _IND AT MODERATE CHARGES. WM. CAMPBELL, NEW YORK HOUSE. SEAFO RTH, Mardi 31, 1870, 58— FARMERS GO TO ilil'HAUCHT AND TEEPLE FOR WAGGONS, BUGGIES. A GRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, and. in .1-1 fact, anything drawn by the horse. A large assortment always kept on hand. And for first- pcllaasese.HORSE SHOEING & JOBBINGthatis the A large stock of Dry Oak, and other Lumber, also Dry Waggon Spokes, for Sale. Seaforth, Feb. 4th, 1870. 11-1y. DYSPEPSIA TAYSPEPSIA can be effectually cur- ed by using DR. CALDWELL'S ev, DYSPEPSIA REMTIDY. See circul- ar and certificates accompanying each P b al o e. Sold by R. LUMSDEN and E. HICKSON & CO., Seaforth, and medicine dealers generally. WOODED- FF, BENTLY & CO. 117-25ins. Brougham, Ont. OFFICES TO LET. mWO offices on the second flat in Scott's " 1 The best, and most convenient rooms in the village. Apply to McCAUGHEY HOLMESTED. Seaforth April 14, 1870. 123-tf. A HOUSE TO LET. ATENEMENT consisting of Kitchen Dining Room, Parlor, and three or four BedRooms, . . . in good condition is nowto be let by the proprie- tor, W. CAMPBELL, 1224f. HOUSE AND LOT FOR SALE. Till!, subscriber offers for sale a large Frame - Cottage, 30 x 40, new, and Village Lot on the corner opposite the Baptist Church, Seaforth. Farm property would..be taken in exchange. Ap- ply on. the premises. McAURTHER. Seaforth, Jan. 28, 1870. 112-6m. * NOTICE TO DEBTORS.. A LL persons imdebted to the late firm of Zapfe & McCallum, are hereby requested to call and Settle the same with the undersigned on or before the 1st. of March next, otherwise costs will be incurred. ZAPPE & CARTER. Seaforth Foundry.. Seaforth, Feb. 15, 1870. 115-tf, • DOG 'LOST. TOST in Seaforth on the last Show Day.,Ia, small shaggy, black dog, with a little tan color on the nose and legs, answers to the name of Ceaser. Any person leaving the same at Mc - Bride's Hotel in Seaforth, or with the owner will be suitably rewarded. JOHN DOBIE, Lot No. 11, Con. 9. Tuckersmith March 25 1870. tf. LIVERY STABLE. TAMES ROSS desiries to inform the public - that he has opened a New Livery Stable in connection with his hotel, where parties can be accommodated with first-class horses and vehicles., at reasonable prices, Seatorth, Jan'y. 21st, 1870. 97-tf. :Moneri Money THE subscriber has received another large re- mittance of money for investment on good; farm property, at 8 per cent ; or 10 per cent, and no charges. JOHN S. PORTER. Seafthth, Jan'y. 21st, 1870. 95-tf„ TOWNSHIP OF HAY. rnHE COURT OF REVISION FOR THE 1 Township of Hay will be held. in the TOWN HALL, 011 TUESDAY, MAY 17, 18701 at TEN O'CLOCK, A. M. HAY, April 27. 1870. WM. WILSON, Tp Clerk._ 125-td.— CREY COURT OF REVISION! • TITE COURT OF RF4V1SION FOR TAP, Township of Grey, will be held at JAMES TUCK'S HOTEL, TOWN PLOT, =THURSDAY', MAY 23, 1870, commencing at Tax o'clock, a. m. when all parties interested are requested. to attend. WILLIAM GRANT, Tp. Clerk DINGLE, April 22, 1870. 124-td— NOTICE. "VOTICE is hereby given that the partnership heretofore existino.''under the name and.style of BREWER & ROCK, Millers, Roxborough, has this day been dissolved by mutual consent, Geo. Rock to receive all debts due the late firm, and Alfred Brewer to pay all debts due by the said firth, ALFRED BREWER, F. HOLMESTED, GEORGE ROCK, WitnessRoximpuo x,Aprii. 27, 1870. 125L6_ FARM FOR SALE. 1 ?TIE RSubscriber offers for sale, on easy terms, the following property.: A good Farm of 51 acres of land; 43 acres cleared, well watend. with a living stream close to the barn yard. A good well and pump—also a young orchrad, bear- ing. A goocl hewed log ho -use, .finished,–a new frame barn 50x34, with stable and granary. Situated on East .1 of Lot 22, 5th Con. McKillop, within a of a mile of the North gravel road lead- ing to Seaforth, and a little over 3 miles from -Seaforth. Church and 'School house within I of a, mile. For further particulars apply to thesun- dersigned, on the premises. JOHN SPARLING, McRILLor, April 22, 1870. 125.3ins. NOTICE. TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. NOTICE is hereby given, tligt the Corporation i.ntenclsin ofthea TownshipBy-Law.., n ofUSoborneCoofSATURDAYHuroa, the .F.OleUR0fTRIlnaDdA Allowance,Y ..EbeNtEwXeli La outtsh 17 a n gd 18 North East Boundary,and in front of Lot 26, on the Eighth Concession of Usborne. By Order of the Township Council, SAMUEL P. HALLS, USBORNE, April 2, 1870. Tp. 'Clerk. 125-6— JOHN LOGAN'S SPRI)G GOOD POP, 1870, POSSESS ALL THOSE GOOD QUALITIES WHICH'HAVE ESTABLISHED ' THE MANCHESTER HOUSE AS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES FOR DO- ING BUSINESS IN CANADA. SEAFORTH, April 28-, 1870. 152-tf.. 111 Recent Inveal Geologists are a zults of the expl made last summer pine," by Dr. Cati 'Thompson, and Among the facts di :surface of the sea i fifty-two degrees, warm tracts' deep, .ing within a shot' and marked by 1 The bottom of th barren sardstone; 'of older rock, inla 'teals, and those m In the adjacent w the bottom is cis with life. f 'No' Review on. the Ai her's Journal for these two tracks i, land. GeologistS them to have been- -and under very i and yet we Thad neous anal almoi -there is a fat ti siclered in all futu is called geologici, Another feet a ceived opinion. with animal Iifel ams, the animals is now an esta.bli be -inferred from is yet much moi, -ordinary light pej the sea, ]ow doi there at the-botto ' light, If a 'phIt clown in the sea,, presence of light the animals at difficulty, for the Mr. Graham, has fusions of -gasses elo-wnwards to th , suT Of. all the b men, none is mot: than that of int •else do these inat their extravagane instance, we hav4 of life insuranceol 'whom they addr and two shiaii peated multiplica --about a subetanti Then there a Inions of the r -whereby an almos induced believt pany- can pay all and return to the' sooner, all the m corn -pounded at t -which it receives But the worse -MIS and cruel of that by which th fire insurance ea - safety to the corn sured. That this conclusive that d tins which sharp mets, the fools aught that we ca to die faster than , give birth to the But what shall to be honest and , who gravely adv go further and pr successive years, fleit of receipts a port of the &sett that is the rates paw would have are honest, Goa, ChieagoIns. Chr &MK TO ON water, thou than of the -Good Bo succeed in any u to it with. a he' Ills best The way up to 'Worth: long to the shif stable class, bu those who took their sleeves, e against labour, and burderi of the old worn -o toiled, diligently soil to a. state of chine shop or fac business places let the mot and industry. nursery was. 0'0 answer all th This is not a ba pect to be jostle stern eonfliet, an not on the look the duties of lit . shrink them, bu man with a good sion, who goes fo mind made up t fession, is not favors. NEW °atm has invented a n the hope of the -devised will do our present ga and thus elevate artistic merit. as iiow—three - 'the ,object balls deep red, and bl will be caroms o -sent ;with this ot.