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Fragment E. 1616.
CAPT. EDWARD BRAWNDE'S
Letter to John Smith
[Source: Cotton MSS, Otho E. VIII, fols. 248–249, British Library.]
This letter or report from Capt. Edward Brawnde to John Smith must have
been written during the autumn of 1616. Brawnde was an inconspicuous
ship captain who apparently was interested in some sort of expedition with
Smith. Unfortunately, the document was damaged in the 1731 fire in the
building that housed Sir Robert Bruce Cotton's extensive library. In order
to indicate the extent of the damage, the transcription of the original manuscript
has been set line for line. No attempt has been made to reconstruct the
missing parts of the text beyond a few obvious bits enclosed in square
brackets. These are also used to indicate difficult and doubtful readings.
Brawnde's manuscript was first discovered by the Reverend Edward
Duffield Neill c. 1880, who printed a partial transcription of it with notes in
his Virginia Vetusta (Albany, N.Y., 1885), 105–109. The following is an
entirely new transcription.
erall cap
einge a pleasaunt voyage
4 of February at Sod[quin]
her harbour a litell w[i]thin Sod[quin]
e had a Conve[nie]ntt wind to moneheg[in]
for it pleased god to derictt him there wh
s voyage and after having ended his voyage in
departted the harbor of monehegin the 22 of Julye
there was another shipe called the Blessing of
one Arther Hitchens was m[aste]r w[hi]ch departed outt of plim[outh]
last of January & having a contrery passedge did nott arive
the countrye before the first of maye or the laste of Aprill &
[w]asted her salt was a means of hendering of her voyage she cam[e?]
the Countrye the 22 of Julye bounde for England & arived the 27 of Augus[t] there was a[lso?]
[and a] shipp called the daved of Plimouth wherof on[e] Jhon Mintren w[as?]
beinge of the burthen of 120 tunns & departed out of plimouth a[bout?]
the midds of February & Arived into the Contrye aboutt the 5 [or 6?]
of Aprell she hathmad[e] a good voyedg & departted the countrye the 21
of Julye bound for England & arived in plimouth the first of September
There was also a shipp of London called the nathan of the burthen
of 200 where of on[e] Edward Brawnde was m[aste]r w[hi]ch departed outt
of darttmouth the 8 of marche & Fell in with Sodquin
the 20 of Aprell & was harbourd in manehegin the 24 of Aprell
to bu[i]ld all his boatts & having greatt store of trade A
bord to delliver to a pinnes w[hi]ch was to com[e] to him & was long
absent by w[hi]ch towe meanes his voyage was varye much dam[-]
nyfied yett eusing his best endeavor he & his Companye made
w[i]thin littell a saving[?] voyage by the meanes of on[e] or towe men
he had 6 men fayled him all the yeere his pinnes Cam[e]
outt of dartmouth the 10th of march & did nott arive in monehegin
before the 26 or 27 of June butt she was upon the Cosste 20 dayes
before that[;] m[aste]r Brawnde Came outt of manehegin the 21 of July
& lefte his pinnes in the Countrye being bound about Cape
Cod for the descovery of serteyne perell w[hi]ch is told by the
Sauvages to be there[.] m[aste]r Brawnde arived the 28th of Auguste
ood towe other ship
aboutt the midds of July
Judeth
of on[e] william weste was m[aste]r
[c]alled the Triall whereof on[e] James Ed
nevall arived in the About the first of 9[?]
[a]boutt the laste of Aprell the Coming both in
21th of Julye the admerall arived into England
Auguste the other arived aboutt the 5 or 6 of Septemb[er]
To All whom this doth concerne this is to be sertifyed
th[e]re ar greet voyages to be made in new Englande upon f[ish?]
take the times of the yeere & likewise upon ferrs so far as [they]
be nott spoyled by the meanes of towe manye factors ther
& Convenient[?] that the trade be kept in on facttor[s?] or Cap
handes then the[y?] shold[?] kepe the Savages at ther pleasure
itt another this w[hi]ch may hender the trad[e] w[hi]ch is the ffench[?]
the boatt the cosste verye much if this be prevented the
great good to be donne upon it[.] I dew engage my selfe [&?]
men to loade a shippe of 200 betweene the firste of marche & t[he?]
midds of June for in marche aprill & maye is the best time of
making of drye ffish[.] A shippe that will carye 400000 newfoundland[?]
fishe will nott Carye above 7 or 8 score [thousand?] from new England
the Countrye is good & A healthye clemett for aught that
I can se[e] or understand[;] the savages are a gentell natured peopell
& frequentt the Engleshe vere much[;] the Countrye is worthye of
prayes & Comendacion & if I ware of abbilitye & able to v[e]nture
I would venture that waye a[s] soune as anye waye in anye Cuntrye
that yieldeth such Comodityes as that doth though my meanes
be nott able to venture yet my life & labour is willinge
& industrous att the uttmost of my power
- The m[aste]r is Edward Brawnde
his cheff mate John Bennett - The second mate Briane Tooker
- The owner of o[u]r shippe William Treedell
- The m[er]chantt John Edwards
- The Bossone John hille
- The gonner & pilott willim Gaynye
his mate James F[arr?] - The bossones mate John downe
- The quarter m[a]sters is
Nicholas Collins - Thomas Weber
- John Marrens
- Hennery Batteshill
- The steward John Brinnelcome
- The Cooks Nicholas Head
& John Hutten - Some of the Comen mens names are
- John Wills
- phillipp wills
- Thomas Roberts
- John Hept[?]
- Thomas Tobbe
I hope I need nott writt enye more of my mens names[.] So I end
Comending all wishers & good adventurers in this voyage to the protection
of the Allmighty. I Rest
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