sects, mosquitoes, and horrible flies by which he was
surrounded. "And yet," he says, "God in His great mercy willed that in
this very place I should find the means of escaping from my exile, and
making my way to the English island of Jamaica. On the 13th of August
a little shallop of that generous nation, in its course from the
island of St. Thomas to Jamaica, stopped at Avache to water and take
provisions. Two months already had I watched for such an opportunity,
and now that God had presented me with this, I thought it should not
be neglected. So fully was I persuaded of this, that without
reflecting upon the smallness of the shallop, I put myself on board
with victuals for four days, although assured that the passage would
only occupy three. But instead of performing the passage in three
days, as we had thought, it was ten days before we made the island,
during the whole of which time I was constantly unwell from bad
weather and consequent seasickness. During the last three days I
suffered also from hunger, my provisions being spent, with the
exception of some little wretched food, salt and smoky, which the
sailors eat to keep themselves from starving. God, in His great
compassion, preserved me from all dangers, and brought me happily to
Jamaica, where, however, I thought to leave my bones."

The voyage was followed by a serious illness. De Pechels was obliged
to take to his bed, where he lay for fifteen days prostrated by fever,
accompanied by incessant pains in his head. After the fever had left
him, he could neither walk nor stand. By slow degrees his strength
returned. He was at length able to walk; and he then began to make
arrangements for setting out for England. On the 1st of October he
embarked on board an English vessel bound for London. During his
voyage north he suffered from cold, as much as he had before suffered
from heat. At length the coast of England was sighted. Two days after,
the ship reached the Downs; and on the 22nd of December it was borne
up the Thames by the tide, to within about seven miles from London
Bridge. There the ship stopped to discharge part of her cargo; and De
Pechels, having taken his place on board a small sloop for the great
city, arrived there at ten o'clock the same night.

On arrival in London, De Pechels proceeded to make inquiry amongst his
Huguenot friends--who had by that time reached England in great
numbers--for his wife, his children, his mother, and his sisters.