Eight Were
Already Dead, And Fifty More So Extremely Ill That We Considered Them
Past All Hopes Of Recovery.
In consideration of our misery, our captain
commanded all the company to prepare by devout prayer in remembrance of
Christ our Saviour, and caused his holy image to be set upon a tree
about a musquet-shot from the fort, giving us to understand that divine
service was to be performed there on the Sunday following, every one who
could possibly do so attending in solemn procession, singing the seven
psalms of David and other litanies, and praying most heartily to our
Lord Christ Jesus to have compassion upon our wretched state. Service
being accordingly performed as well as we could, our captain made a vow,
if it should please God to permit his return into France, that he would
go on pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Rocquemado.
[Footnote 58: The author clearly describes the scurvy, long so fatal to
mariners on long voyages, now almost unknown in consequence of superior
attention to articles of diet and cleanness. - E.]
On that day Philip Rougement died, being 22 years old; and because the
nature of the sickness was utterly unknown, the captain caused his body
to be opened, to see if by any means the cause of the disease could be
discovered, or any thing found out by which to preserve the rest of the
people. His heart was found to be white, but rotten, with more than a
quart, of red water about it. The liver was tolerably sound; but the
lungs were black and mortified. The blood was all collected about the
heart; so that a vast quantity of rotten blood issued from thence when
opened. The milt or spleen was rough and somewhat perished, as if it had
been rubbed against a stone. One of his thighs being very black was
opened, but it was quite sound within. The sickness increased, to such a
pitch that there were not above three sound men in the whole company;
all the rest being unable to go below hatches to bring up victuals or
drink for themselves or others. We were sometimes obliged to bury such
as died under the snow, being unable to dig graves for them, as the
ground was frozen quite hard, and we were all reduced to extreme
weakness. To add to our distress, we were sore afraid that the natives
might discover our weakness and misery. To hide this, our captain, whom
it pleased God always to keep in health, used to make his appearance
with two or three of the company, some sick and some well, whenever any
of the natives made their appearance, at whom he threw stones,
commanding them to go away or he would beat them: And to induce the
natives to believe that all the company were employed in work about the
ships, he caused us all to make a great noise of knocking, with sticks,
stones, hammers, and such like, as if caulking and repairing the ships.
At this time we were so oppressed with this horrible sickness that we
lost all hope of ever returning to France, and we had all died
miserably, if God of his infinite goodness and mercy had not looked upon
us in compassion, and revealed a singular and most excellent remedy
against our dreadful sickness, the best that was ever found on earth, as
shall be related hereafter.
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