But chiefly it was the goodness of God to put it strongly upon Whitelocke’s heart to overrule the seamen in this particular, though in their own art, and though his own desires were sufficiently earnest to hasten to his dear relations and country; yet the present haste he feared might hinder the seeing of them at all.  Upon a strange earnestness in his own mind and judgement, he gave a positive command to the captain to cause all the sails to be taken down except the mainsail only, and that to be half-furled.  Upon the captain’s dispute, Whitelocke with quickness told him that if he did not presently see it done he would cause another to do it, whereupon the captain obeyed; and it was a great mercy that the same was done, which God directed as a means to save their lives.

[SN:  The ship strikes.]

After the sails were taken down, Whitelocke also ordered them to sound and try what water and bottom they had.  About ten o’clock in the evening sounding, they found eighteen fathom water; the next sounding they had but fifteen fathom, and so lessened every sounding till they came to eight fathom, which startled them, and made them endeavour to tack about.  But it was too late, for within less than a quarter of an hour after they had eighteen fathom water, the ship struck upon a bank of sand, and there stuck fast.  Whitelocke was sitting with some of the gentlemen in the steerage-room when this happened, and felt a strange motion of the frigate, as if she had leaped, and not unlike the curveting of a great horse; and the violence of the striking threw several of the gentlemen from off their seats into the midst of the room.  The condition they were in was quickly understood, and both seamen and landsmen discovered it by the wonderful terror and amazement which had seized on them, and more upon the seamen than others who knew less of the danger.

It pleased his good God to keep up the spirits and faith of Whitelocke in this great extremity; and when nothing would be done but what he in person ordered, in this frightful confusion God gave him extraordinary fixedness and assistance, a temper and constancy of spirit beyond what was usual with him.  He ordered the master-gunner presently to fire some pieces of ordnance, after the custom at sea, to signify their being in distress.  But the gunner was so amazed with the danger, that he forgot to unbrace the guns, and shot away the main-sheet; and had not the ship been strong and staunch, the guns being fired when they were close braced, they had broke the sides of her.  Whitelocke caused the guns to be unbraced and divers of them fired, to give notice to the ‘Elizabeth,’ or any other ship that might be within hearing, to come in to their assistance; but they heard no guns again to answer theirs, though they longed for it, hoping that the ‘Elizabeth,’ or any other ship coming in to them, by their boats might save the lives of some of them.  Whitelocke also caused lights to be set up in the top-gallant, used at sea by those in distress to invite help; but the lights were not answered again by any other ship or vessel; particularly they wondered that nothing was heard or seen from the ‘Elizabeth.’