11/25/07 VERSION: BEDSOLE HISTORY FROM 1673 ... - NCGenWeb

hundred two feet long, twenty-five feet wide and twenty feet deep and the cracks
between its many wooden planks were sealed with tar and tar-soaked twine. It was a
miracle it could even survive such a hazardous trip without falling apart, considering
the beating it was certain to incur from the constantly heaving, frothing, and
thrashing water of the open ocean for such a long period of time. For this trip, it
carried a passenger load of 106 settlers and a crew of twelve men.
Think of it; 118 Men, women and children on a vessel that small for ten to twelve
weeks or longer under such conditions; With almost all passengers being sick and
some even dying during the trip, no toilet facilities except for buckets tied to ropes,
no privacy and no provisions for taking a bath except for buckets of salt water dipped
from the ocean. These were accepted hardships and baths were generally ignored.
These ships were also loaded with trade goods, fresh water which always became
stagnant, food, a few medical supplies, and the few pitiful household goods of the
passengers.
Many times the ships captains would steal the 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 the summer 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