I told him in general, too, that as I had several relations in the
place where we were, and that I durst not now let myself be known to
them, because they would soon come into a knowledge of the occasion and
reason of my coming over, which would be to expose myself to the last
degree, so I had reason to believe that my mother, who died here, had
left me something, and perhaps considerable, which it might be very
well worth my while to inquire after; but that this too could not be
done without exposing us publicly, unless we went from hence; and then,
wherever we settled, I might come, as it were, to visit and to see my
brother and nephews, make myself known to them, claim and inquire after
what was my due, be received with respect, and at the same time have
justice done me with cheerfulness and good will; whereas, if I did it
now, I could expect nothing but with trouble, such as exacting it by
force, receiving it with curses and reluctance, and with all kinds of
affronts, which he would not perhaps bear to see; that in case of being
obliged to legal proofs of being really her daughter, I might be at
loss, be obliged to have recourse to England, and it may be to fail at
last, and so lose it, whatever it might be. With these arguments, and
having thus acquainted my husband with the whole secret so far as was
needful of him, we resolved to go and seek a settlement in some other
colony, and at first thoughts, Caroline was the place we pitched upon.
In order to this we began to make inquiry for vessels going to
Carolina, and in a very little while got information, that on the other
side the bay, as they call it, namely, in Maryland, there was a ship
which came from Carolina, laden with rice and other goods, and was
going back again thither, and from thence to Jamaica, with provisions.
On this news we hired a sloop to take in our goods, and taking, as it
were, a final farewell of Potomac River, we went with all our cargo
over to Maryland.
This was a long and unpleasant voyage, and my spouse said it was worse
to him than all the voyage from England, because the weather was but
indifferent, the water rough, and the vessel small and inconvenient.
In the next place, we were full a hundred miles up Potomac River, in a
part which they call Westmoreland County, and as that river is by far
the greatest in Virginia, and I have heard say it is the greatest river
in the world that falls into another river, and not directly into the
sea, so we had base weather in it, and were frequently in great danger;
for though we were in the middle, we could not see land on either side
for many leagues together. Then we had the great river or bay of
Chesapeake to cross, which is where the river Potomac falls into it,
near thirty miles broad, and we entered more great vast waters whose
names I know not, so that our voyage was full two hundred miles, in a
poor, sorry sloop, with all our treasure, and if any accident had
happened to us, we might at last have been very miserable; supposing we
had lost our goods and saved our lives only, and had then been left
naked and destitute, and in a wild, strange place not having one friend
or acquaintance in all that part of the world. The very thought of it
gives me some horror, even since the danger is past.