Having here carefully repaired the iron work of their rudder, and taken in a fresh stock of provisions, they again set sail on the 14th of September; and were a second time baffled by contrary winds, insomuch that they had to put in at the port of Mures in Spain, whence Quirini went with thirteen of his crew to perform his devotions at the shrine of St Jago di Compostella. They returned from thence with all speed, and again set sail with a fair wind at south-west, and kept at the distance of 200 miles from the land, in hopes the wind might continue. But on the 5th November the wind shifting to the east and south-east, prevented them from entering the English channel, and forced them beyond the Scilly islands. The wind now again increased in violence, and on the 10th November carried the rudder a second time from its hinges. They slung it by means of ropes to the quarters of the ship, but it soon broke loose, and was dragged after the ship for three days, when, by exerting their utmost efforts, it was again made fast. The vessel now drove continually farther from land; and as the crew consumed the victuals and drink without bounds or moderation, two or three of the men were appointed to guard the provisions, with orders to distribute regular shares to each person on board twice a day, Quirini himself not excepted.
As a substitute for their disabled rudder, they constructed, by the advice of the carpenter, out of some spare masts and yards, two rudders with triangular boarded ends, in order to steady the course of the vessel. These being properly fastened proved highly serviceable, and inspired them with fresh hopes of safety; but, by the extreme violence of the winds and waves, this their last refuge was torn away. On the 26th of November the storm increased to such extreme violence, that they expected every moment to founder, and had no doubt this was to have proved the last day of their lives. By degrees, indeed, the storm abated; but they were driven out to sea to the W.N.W., and the sails, from being perpetually fatigued by the rain and wind, were now torn to shivers; and though they put up new ones, they were soon likewise destroyed. The ship now drove without either sails or rudder, at the mercy of the winds and waves, and was filled by the sea which continually beat over it; insomuch that the crew, worn out with constant labour, anxiety, and watching, were scarcely able to keep the water under. On heaving the lead they found water at 80 fathoms; on which they spliced all their four cables on end, and rode at anchor for the space of forty hours; when one of die crew, terrified at the dreadful working of the ship occasioned by the winds and waves, cut the cable at the forecastle, and the ship now drove about as before. On the 4th December, four large waves broke in succession over their ill-fated vessel, and filled it so full of water that it seemed just ready to sink. By exerting their utmost strength and resolution, the crew baled the water out, though it reached to their waists, and at length succeeded in emptying the vessel entirely. On the 7th, the tempest increased with such violence, that the sea flowed into the ship uninterruptedly from the windward, and their speedy destruction seemed quite inevitable; so that they were now of opinion their only chance of safety was by cutting away the mainmast, which might lighten the ship. This was done therefore immediately; and a large wave fortunately carried the mast and yard clear away, by which the ship worked with considerably less strain and violence. The wind and waves too, now became less violent, and they again baled out the water. But now the mast was gone, the ship would no longer keep upright, and lay quite over on one side, so that the water ran into her in torrents; and the people, being quite exhausted with labour and want of food, had not strength remaining to clear out the water.
In this desperate situation, expecting every moment that the vessel would sink or go to pieces, they came to the resolution of endeavouring to save themselves in the boats, of which the larger held only forty-seven men, and the smaller twenty-one. Quirini had the choice of either of the boats, and at last went with his servants, into the larger boat, in which the officers had embarked. They took with them a stock of provisions; and on the 17th December, the winds and waves having somewhat moderated, they quitted their unfortunate ship. Among other costly articles of commerce, the ship was laden with 800 casks of Malmsey wine, and a great quantity of sweet-scented Cyprus wood, with pepper and ginger. On the following night, the small boat in which twenty-one of the crew were embarked, was separated from them by the violence of the storm, and they never heard of her more. Those in the larger boat were obliged to throw overboard most of their stock of wine and provisions, and all their clothes except those they had on, in order if possible to lighten her a little. As the weather proved fair for some time, they steered to the eastwards, in hopes of getting as they thought to Iceland; but the wind again chopping about, drove them about at its will, and they were quite ignorant whereabouts they were.
Their liquor now began to fail, and many of the people being quite exhausted with incessant labour, long watchings, and the other hardships they had undergone, and through scarcity of provisions, a great number of them died. So great particularly was the scarcity of drink, that the allowance for each man was only a fourth part of a moderate cupful once in twenty-four hours. They were better provided with salted meat, cheese, and biscuit; but this dry and salt food excited an intolerable thirst, which they had no means to quench; in consequence of which some of them died suddenly, and without having exhibited any previous symptoms of illness; and it was particularly observed, that those were first carried off who had formerly lived in the most intemperate manner, and had given themselves up to drunkenness, or had continually indulged themselves in hovering over the fire. Though these had the external appearance of being strong and healthy, they were least able to endure the hardships they had now to suffer, and two or three of them used to die in a day. This mortality prevailed for ten days, from the 19th to the 29th of December. On the 29th the last remainder of the wine was served out, and every one resigned himself to meet death, which seemed at hand. Some of the people, urged by raging thirst, drank sea water, which evidently hastened their dissolution. Others had recourse to their own urine, and this nauseous beverage, joined to the precaution of eating as little salt provision as possible, contributed most of all to the preservation of their lives.
For the space of five days they continued in this dreadful situation, sailing all the time to the north-eastward. At length on the 4th of January, one of the people who sat in the bow of the boat, descried somewhat to leeward which he conceived to be the shadow of land, and immediately informed the crew of his discovery in an anxious voice. All eyes were now eagerly directed to this object, and as day broke they saw with extreme joy that it really was the land. The sight of this welcome object inspired them with fresh vigour, and they now plied their oars in order to arrive the sooner at the shore; but on account of its great distance, as well as the shortness of the day, which was only two hours long, they were unable to accomplish this desire. Besides, they were now so weak as to be unable to make use of their oars for any length of time; and as night soon overtook them, and was of long continuance, it seemed to men in their forlorn state as if it would never end. When the next day broke, they could no longer discern the land which they had seen the day before; but they discovered another mountainous country very near them and to leeward. That they might not lose the way to this during the ensuing night, they took its bearings by the compass, and hoisting sail with a fair wind they reached it about four o'clock in the evening. On approaching the shore, they observed that it was surrounded by many shallows, as they distinctly heard the sea breaking over these; but they gave themselves up to the guidance of providence, and at one time the boat grounded on a shoal, but a vast wave came and floated them over, and at the same time carried them safely to land upon a shelving rock, which was now their great security, as the spot was encompassed on every side with rugged projecting rocks, and they could not possibly have got on shore in any other place. Here therefore they ran their boat on shore; and those who were on the bows leaped directly on the coast, which they found entirely covered with snow, which they swallowed in immense quantities, filling their parched and burning stomachs and bowels. They likewise filled a kettle and pitcher for those who from weakness remained in the boat; and Quirini alleges, that he swallowed as much snow as he would have found it difficult to have carried on his back, all his happiness and welfare seeming to depend upon the quantity of it he could swallow. This extravagant quantity of snow agreed so ill with some of the people, that five of them died that night; though their deaths were attributed to the sea water which they had previously drank.