3 saile of English fishermen from Iseland, bound homeward, by whom we wrote
our letters vnto our friends in England. [Sidenote: Great bodies of trees
driuing in the seas.] We trauersed these Seas by the space of 26 dayes
without sight of any land, and met with much drift wood, and whole bodies
of trees. [Sidenote: Monstrous fish and strange foule liuing onely by the
Sea.] We sawe many monsterous fishes and strange foules, which seemed to
live onely by the Sea, being there so farre distant from any land. At
length God fauoured vs with more prosperous windes, and after wee had
sayled foure dayes with good winde in the Poop, the fourth of Iuly the
Michael being foremost a head shot off a peece of Ordinance, and stroke all
her sayles, supposing that they had descryed land which by reason of the
thicke mistes they could not make perfit: [Sidenote: Water being blacke and
smooth signifieth land to be neere.] howbeit, as well our account as also
the great alteration of the water, which became more blacke and smooth, did
plainely declare we were not farre off the coast. [Sidenote: Ilands of
yce.] Our Generall sent his Master aboord the Michaell (who had beene with
him the yeere before) to beare in with the place to make proofe thereof,
who descryed not the land perfect, but sawe sundry huge Ilands of yce,
which we deemed to be not past twelue leagues from the shore, [Sidenote:
The first sight of Frisland the 4. of Iuly.] for about tenne of the clocke
at night being the fourth of Iuly, the weather being more cleare, we made
the land perfect and knew it to be Frislande. And the heigth being taken
here, we found ourselues to be in the latitude of 60 degrees and a halfe,
and were fallen with the Southermost part of this land. Betweene Orkney and
Frisland are reckoned leagues.[66]

[Sidenote: Frisland described.] This Frislande sheweth a ragged and high
lande, hauing the mountaines almost couered ouer with snow alongst the
coast full of drift yce, and seemeth almost inaccessable, and is thought to
be an Iland in bignesse not inferiour to England, and is called of some