Pietas in patriam the life of His Excellency Sir William Phips, Knt. late Captain…

And besides this Calamity, it was also to be lamented, That although the most of the Fleet arrived safe at New-England, whereof some Vessels indeed were driven off by Cross-Winds as far as the West-Indies, before such Arrival; yet there were three or four Vessels which totally miscarried: One was never heard of, a second was Wrecked, but most of the Men were saved by another in company; a third was Wrecked so, that all the Men were either starved or drowned, or slain by the Indians, except one, which a long while after, was, by means of the French, restored: And a fourth, met with Accidents, which it may be, my Reader will, by and by pronounce, not unworthy to have been Related.

And besides this Calamity, it was also to be lamented, That although the most of the Fleet arrived safe at New-England, whereof some Vessels indeed were driven off by Cross-Winds as far as the West-Indies, before such Arrival; yet there were three or four Vessels which totally miscarried: One was never heard of, a second was Wreck'd, but most of the Men were saved by another in company; a third was Wreck'd so, that all the Men were either starved or drown'd, or slain by the Indians, except one, which a long while after, was, by means of the French, restored: And a fourth, met with Accidents, which it may be, my Reader will, by and by pronounce, not unworthy to have been Related.

A Brigantine, whereof Captain John Rainsford was Commander, having about Threescore Men aboard, was in a very stormy Night, Octob. 28, 1690, stranded upon the desolate and hideous Island of Antecosta, an Island in the mouth of the Mighty River of Canada; but through the singular Mercy of God unto them, the Vessel did not, immediately, stave to pieces, which if it had happened, they must have, one way or another quickly perished. There they lay for divers days, under abundance of bitter Weather, trying and hoping to get off their Vessel; and they solemnly set apart, ⟨p. 47⟩one Day for Prayer with Fasting, to obtain the smiles of Heaven upon them, in the midst of their Distresses; and this especially, That if they must go ashoar, they might not by any stress of Storm, lose the Provisions which they were to carry with them. They were, at last convinced, that they must continue no longer on Board, and therefore, by the seventh of November, they applied themselves, all Hands, to get their Provisions ashoar upon the dismal Island, where they had nothing but a sad and cold Winter before them; which being accomplished, their Vessel overset so, as to take away from them all expectation of getting off the Island in it. Here they now built themselves Nine small Chimney-less things that they called Houses; to this purpose employing such Boards and Planks as they could get from their shattered Vessel, with the help of Trees, whereof that squalid Wilderness had enough to serve them; and they built a particular Store-house, wherein they carefully Lodged and Locked the poor quantity of Provisions, which though scarce enough to serve a very abstemious Company for one Month, must now be so stinted, as to hold out six or seven, and the Allowance agreed among them could be no better than for One Man, Two Biscuits, half a pound of Pork, half a pound of Flower, one Pint and a quarter of Pease, and two Salt Fishes per Week. This little Handful of Men, were now a sort of Common-Wealth, extraordinarily, and miserably separated from all the rest of Mankind; (but I believe, they thought little enough of an Utopia:) Wherefore, they consulted and concluded such Laws among themselves, as they judged necessary to their subsistence, in the doleful Condition, whereinto the Providence of God had cast them; now —penitùs toto divisos Orb.