Bedsole - NCGenWeb

Many times the ships captains would steal the best baggage carried by the passengers and sell it or load it
onto a different ship for a price, with the settlers pitiful belongings never seen again by the owners. Their
baggage usually contained dried fruit, butter which turned into a mess during these sailings, other foodstuffs,
clothes, tools and money which they had planned to use to live, eat, pay for their fare and for supplies upon
reaching their destination. They were not aware that their pitifully small amounts of money would be next to
useless in the “New Land”, because "Trade" was the most prevalent "money" in this country at that time. The
fare for the poorer passengers was guaranteed by the more affluent settlers already in the New Land, and
who were in great need of laborers and who would pay the Captain upon arrival in what was called "The Bath
Settlement" which later became Bath, NC, in this case.
Aboard ship, the passengers were crammed into very tight quarters. At first, they sat on the top deck sitting
on lashed-down household goods, boxes and bags of cargo, and personal belongings, as they grew tired,
sleepy and hungry, they wandered all over the ship, both above and below decks . Being powered by sails,
such ships usually found themselves becalmed for several days and nights during these trips. Because such
sitting and waiting for the wind to blow may last for two days at a time. That was a total nightmare always
waiting to happen and too often it did.
Twenty five cannons were also lashed on deck, by the ships crew. They were needed to fight off any Spanish
ships they were liable to encounter on the trip in view of the fact that Spain and England were at odds at that
time. Leaving port, the ship was heavily loaded, and with its sails full of wind, it slowly headed out into the
open ocean.
The next morning about two a.m., no surprise to the crew of course, they awoke to find the ship groaning,
cracking, popping and creaking as it heaved, tossed, pitched, rolled and yawed from side to side wildly, with
loud crashing sounds, in the opening round of its long battle with the heaving, frothing ocean. By the end of
the first day and with the exception of the experienced crew, all aboard were already deathly seasick and
were lying below and above decks. They vomited until they were just heaving, but with nothing coming up.
They were already pale in color and listless. Most of the adults were already having second thoughts about
making this trip. But they were all committed now, as the ship thrashed slowly along gaining foot by foot, in its
beginning fight for and against, the wind. This was a life or death fight they, and the ship faced. As they
plodded along day after day, the hapless passengers did their best to deal with the never-ending heaving,
pitching, rolling and yawing of the ship. The front end would point skyward as it climbed wave after wave,
then dive down the other side, until the bow was terrifyingly underwater, then it would rear up again, pointing
skyward, as thousands of gallons of salt water rushed across the decks from front to rear, sometimes injuring
some of the more foolish passengers who ventured out on the heaving deck, by slamming them against the
rigging, freight, cabin and bulwarks of the ship.
Practically all the women and children spent most of their time below deck with the women tending to the
constantly sick children, who would vomit as soon as they ate anything at all. Many of them were running a
fever, from drinking the already-stagnant, untreated and contaminated fresh water onboard. They, and many
of the adults were lying and sitting, staring listlessly, in a brew of vomit and human excrement in the ships
hold, for days. Some for weeks. The ships captain and crew advised the passengers to eat only rice, or
bread, but no meat or anything greasy for the first 3 days or more. Of course, the passengers had no desire
whatsoever for anything greasy and the mere thought sent most running for the “slop jars” used as
commodes and toilets by all on board. These usually rolled and fell over, emptying their odorous mixture into
the hold and on the flooring and all over any nearby passengers and their clothing. The stench below deck
was indescribable.
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