"There was a convoy of ships returning to England and we assembled at the mouth of the bay. In all there were 154 ships. The time of the year was just after the wheat harvest and the summer fruit and peaches were finished. The ship Nassau and some others had been up the York River but they appeared also. I was very weak and in no condition to work for the cost of my passage. The opportunity of going on the Nassau was very appealing because I knew the captain and the sailors and they had a doctor on board. So I changed ships."
"After some false starts because the wind did not last, we were underway and made good time but went too far south where it was very hot. Usually the trip to England is quicker than the trip from England because the winds tend to blow from the west. So an eastbound crossing in eight to ten weeks is not unusual. One of the captains died and he was buried at sea with much ceremony. The weather was good and the ship captains often visited each other's ship. On these occasions the food and drink flow generously. Our captain [not the passengers except those who ate at the captain's table] had fresh meat every day. There were 45 pigs, one calf, three sheep, more than 20 turkeys, 14 geese, more than 100 chickens. Most of these had been presents to him. The preacher on board also brought some animals and much strong drink. [The Nassau was an above average sized ship.] They slaughtered daily and many times the meat had to be thrown away as it spoiled before it could be used. The common people had good water but nothing more to drink. The food though was very poor and the salted food was too old and bad tasting. Also, the biscuit was full of worms."
"One night there was an excitement because two ships became entangled and could not be separately easily. The whole fleet had to stop and there was much confusion. About 1500 miles from land, we amusing ourselves with fishing. We also watched the flying fish who are chased by the dolphins. A flying fish hit our sail once and landed on the deck. We put him in vinegar and kept him for a long time. We harpooned some of the dolphins. We had some pigeons and we released them sometimes but they always came back to the ship."
"On the second of September [old style, or the thirteenth, new style], a storm approached. The next day was very bad for us. A sail was torn away, the rudder failed to work, and we were tossed about. The greatest terror was caused by the fact that, when they measured how much water was in the ship, they found there were already five feet in the tobacco room. We had a hole in the ship! We had to think about the ship sinking. One wave broke on the stern and broke out the windows there. We were manning the pumps and finally we could see that the level of the water was not rising. We moved some of the tobacco and we were able to put four pumps to work. Another ship came to our aid but could do little except to stand by. The fleet was scattered and on the morning of the fourth we could see about 90 ships from the lookout. More than twenty ships were missing. Our captain went to the fleet commander who was scarce of labor as he had to help many ships, but he lent us a carpenter who nailed a piece of lead over the hole in our ship. This helped, but all the people had to man the pumps until we reached England. The captain increased the rations."
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.