Chapter 2

I was sunk in misery, a torpor of shock giving me a numb lassitude, my Ship sailed away, leaving me marooned on this God-forsaken savage place. I drifted the rest of the day, hardly interested enough in my surroundings to lift my head. As the evening arrived, my Faith was restored by the most magnificent and colorful display as the sun set into the sea, this work of Art beyond any mortal artist surely needed no further proof of signature to indicate the existence of a Master Artist.

I prayed giving thanks for my deliverance, and gave my trust to my Lord God that I would win through. The current and breeze were carrying me south through the night, the dark outline of land to my east, the gentle sound of surf giving me a restful sleep. The next few days I rigged a canvas, and put an oar in the water by the stern to keep my direction. I had a vague idea of encountering a vessel of some description, even a Spanish ship would be better than perishing.

On the fourth night of my solitude, a hoard of vast shark fins, some twenty feet tall, terrorized me, rising and plunging on all sides, gently bumping and knocking my frail wooden shell. I felt and heard the vasty breath, smelling of fish, and realized that these were no shark fish, but some sort of whales, air breathing creatures of the sea. I suspected they were the dreaded 'Wolf Whales' of lore, but aside from curiosity, they offered me no harm.

A storm blew onshore the next morning, I had to put in my small canvas or risk the rude and inexpert rigging I had fashioned. Even so, the boat was tossed and driven shoreward, with nothing to be done against it. Suddenly I was among terrific waves, all at cross motion and wild, twisting and auguring my tiny craft like a barrel in a maelstrom. I held on and Prayed to my God that I would not be turned turtle.

My Prayer was answered, and once past the reef or bar, whatever the underwater obstruction had heaped the seas so high, the water calmed, and flattened to the point that I suspected I was no longer at sea, but rather heading up a broad river. The wind and tide carried me eastward, and as the day wore on I could glimpse on either side wooded hills through the rain, mist, and fog.

My forward motion slackened with the wind, and I headed for the banks of the mighty river as the tidal forces reversed. I did not wish to be carried again over that violent turbulence at the river's mouth! I managed to draw the boat up under some trees, and tip it over on it's side, providing a roof. I wrapped myself in a scrap of canvas, and was soon slumbering, with no thought given to keeping watch or possible dangers to be found.

The next morning, I took stock of myself and my resources, and found I had my clasp knife, a small looking glass, a tinderbox and flint, a tin of ship's biscuit, an adze, an awl, some rope, cord and canvas, a small container of iron nails and a glass demijohn of water. I would need some way to obtain meat, as the ship's biscuit wouldn't last me very long at all. It was now summer, but in a few short months it would be winter, with all the travails that entail.

I would need to find shelter and provisions to last, in the few months I had left until the snows. I had to decide what my course would be, south into the land of the Spaniards, or across the unknown, unclaimed lands, to arrive at the English Colonies. I decided I would try to make my way Across the Unclaimed Lands!

First though, I would construct a sledge, and drag it along behind me to avoid having to haul my gear on my back. Also, it would leave me free to dodge, hide, or run, in case I was ambushed by wild animals or savage men. After careful thought, I decided to sail upriver on the inbound tide as far as I could go, getting the best use of the boat as I might, before having to abandon it and continue on foot.

I wrestled the craft back to the water, and launched. I rigged canvas, and with an oar for steering lashed to the thwart, headed up river in the bright summer morning, my spirits high, ignorant of the Herculean Task I had set for myself. Ah, the Blissful Folly of Youth!