By the ſecond, (which hath neither mouth, tongue, legges, nor hands) man is directed, guided, and ſhewne where the Eaſt, Weſt, North, and South are (not only in the ſteddieſt caſe a veſſel can be, but when the moved waves toſſeth the ſame as it were towards the clouds, and thence lets it reele as into an Abyſſe) its no wonder then that Solomon the wiſeſt of all men ſaid, that the hardeſt thing to be found, was the way a Ship makes through the Seas. And is not the wonder ſo much the greater, that it findes its ſtreight courſe through that vaſt perpetuall moving, and removing body, ſo exactly, when the Firmament appeares as black as Inke, and all the lights of Heaven are covered with the darkneſſe of the night, (like as with an extinguiſher) as well as in the cleareſt day.

Is it not a wonder above all wonders, that after ſo many moneths Navigations, and that after ſuch varieties, changes of winds, intermixture of ſtormes, the violence of Tides, ſo conſtantly changeable, that a veſſel arrives to the mouth of an Harbour, as ſtreight as if it were a Ferry Boat drawn by a cord, faſtned from one ſhoare to the other.

With the royall Prophet David, let all men ſay; Qui deſcendunt mare in Navibus, facientes operationem in aquis multis, ipſi viderunt opera Domini, & mirabilia ejus in profundo dixit, & ſtetit ſpiritus procella: Et exaltati ſunt fluctus ejus. Aſcendunt uſque ad Coelos, & deſcendunt uſque ad abyſſos, anima eorum in malis tabeſcebat: Turbati ſunt, & motiſunt ſicut ebrius, & omnis ſapientia e • rum devorata eſt. Et clamaverunt ad Dominum eum tribularentur, & de neceſſitatibus eorum eduxit eos. Et ſtatuit procellam ejus in auram, & ſiluerunt fluctus ejus, & laetati ſunt quia ſiluerunt, & deduxit eos in portum volantatis eorum, confiteantur Domino miſericordiae ejus, & mirabilia ejus filiis hominam. That is They that goe downe to the Sea in ſhips, that doe buſineſſe in great waters, theſe ſee the workes of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep; for he commandeth, and raiſeth the ſtormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof; they mount up to the Heaven, they goe down againe to the depths, their ſoule is melted becauſe of trouble, they reele to and fro, and ſtagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end; then they cry unto the Lord in their diſtreſſes. He maketh the ſtorme a calme, ſo that the waves thereof are ſtill; then are they glad becauſe they be quiet, ſo he bringeth them unto their deſired haven: O that men would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſſe, and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men, Pſal. 107.

Let us then ſo profit by this preſent meditation, wherein we ſhall finde the great benefit of the Art of Navigation, in that it doth not only ſerve for the tranſportation both of men and goods, from the remoteſt parts of the world, and towards the which God was not pleaſed to preſcribe any high wayes, for Carts, nor Forces; but to make men acquainted with all ſuch parts, in which God doth manifeſt the varieties of his power, and of his bottomles treaſures; even ſo doth he likewiſe with Nations, in ſome of which his divine fatherly mercy is glorified, and his Juſtice made more apparent, rendring man alſo more capable to participate of thoſe innumerous riches; by all what the Indian precious ſhoares are garniſhed with, by all the golden bowels of the earth, where Nature by the Sun-beams is made capable of ſuch productions, by what the Mother-wombe of pearls is poſſeſt with, by that wherewith Aarons breaſt was made ſo ſhining glorious; men load their Veſſels as freely as Carts on other grounds, with the moſt ordinary fruits, and productions of the earth.

Navigation may therefore well be termed the moſt profitable of all Sciences, and Arts, for man-kinde; if he can make that uſe of it, as may juſtly draw bleſſings unto him; which is to be compaſt by doing that, ſo earneſtly wiſht for by the aforeſaid King David; O that men would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſſe, and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men.

And by being as ready to labour in his cauſe (in which no Soule can ſuffer any ſhip-wrack) as to hazard Life, Ship, and Goods, for tranſitory things.

We ſhall begin with the Sea, and ſay firſt what it is, and why it is called Ocean.

The Sea is all the vaſt extent of water which environs the earth.

The waters were created by God, In principio creavit Deus coelum & Terram, & Spiritus Domini ferebatur ſuper aquas. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. This is confirmed by the writs of Moſes, in his generation, or off-ſpring of this world.

The Water doth engender, and maintaine it ſelf in the Sea; the Rivers come from it, and return unto it.

The Aegyptians have ſuppoſed foure Elements, of each one whereof they made two; the one Male, and the other Female: they beleeve that the Aire which engenders the wind is the Male, and that which is loaden with clouds, and which doth not ſtirre, to be the Female; they call the Water male, and all other Waters female; they ſay that the fire (the flame whereof burnes) is male, and that which ſhineth (without doing harme) is the female. They doe beleeve that the hardeſt Earth, as the Stones, and Rocks are males, and give the name of female to that which is manuable.

The Sea is called Ocean, by reaſon of its quick and continuall motion; for Oris in Greek, is to haſten, or elſe it's called, Ocean quaſi Cianeus, for it embraces the Rivers of the earth.

The Sea receives ſeverall names from the diverſity of places, by the which it paſſeth, as the Sea of China, India, Perſia, &c.

The Sea properly hath no colour, for our ſight doth not remaine on the ſuperficies of the water, but deſcends lower, and at a great diſtance its colour is like that of Heaven, but being diſturbed by the Winds it is ſuſceptible, of divers colours.

It's to be noted, that the Sea riſeth, increaſing ſeven dayes, which is called quick water, and ſeven other dayes it retires decreaſing, which is called dead water. Ariſtotle treats of the cauſes of the increaſing and decreaſing in the ſecond of the Meteors; as alſo Hippocrates in the Booke of the Aire, and Waters; where he ſayes, that there is a proper cauſe of Aſtrologie, viz. by the naturall vertue which the Moone hath on the Waters; therefore we ſee all that's in the Sea increaſeth, and decreaſeth, as the Moone doth; for as the Moone happens to riſe on the Horizon, and that ſhe toucheth the Sea with her beames, ſo doth ſhe raiſe a ſurging on the Sea, which cauſeth its increaſe, and decreaſe; the which ſhall be more largely diſcus'd in its proper time, and place.

THe World could not have been perfect without the Sea, for that if there were no beginning of waters, there would bee no ſimple water; and if there were no ſimple water, there would be no mixt water; and ſo there could not be any thing of that which is ingendered by water. And if there were no water found, nothing conſiſting of a body could bee continued, or conglutinated.

If there were no beginning of Waters, generation would be deſtroyed, and conſequently all the World. Neither without the beginning of Waters could all the aſſemblings of contraries be performed; though they are poſſible.

Thus nature would be deficient in thoſe things which are unavoidably neceſſary, and conducing to the ſame. And its property, and vertue failing, the waters would be hindered in their action, by which it would happen (there being no beginning of waters) that the workmanſhip of nature would periſh, and conſequently the whole World.

Ariſtotle (in the ſecond of the Meteors) ſayes, that the Waters of the Seas ingender in the North: He would ſay, that the greateſt part of the waters of the Sea are ingendred in the North. As Albert the great declares (in the ſecond of the Meteors the ſixth Chapter, where he ſayes) that the Sea runs from the North to the South, and the cauſe is, that the Sea is higher in the North, then towards the South; and the reaſon why it is higher, is, becauſe that the cold of the North ingenders more water than the Sea can contain in the ſpace, diſtance, and height, of its coaſt there. The water which is in the South is conſumed and diminiſhed by the heat of the Sun, therefore one part of the South water, drives the other back towards the lowermoſt ſide, yet nevertheleſſe either moveth accidentally from the place of their generation, becauſe that which is moiſt runs to be retained in the dry part.

The reaſon why the water conſumes it ſelfe ſo much in the South, is, becauſe the Sunne turnes alwayes in his excentrique circle: and that its center is not the ſame with that of the Earth, ſo that if the Diameter, of the circle of the ſun were paſſed between two Diameters, its center and that of the Earth, the greateſt part of the Diameter would be at one ſide, and the leſſer at the other, in conſideration of the Center of the Earth.

And thus it is Geometrically demonſtrated, that the greateſt length of the Diameter is neare the twentieth degree of Gemini, and that the leaſt length of it is at the twentieth degree of Sagitarius, its oppoſite ſigne. It appeares then, that the Sunne approaches nearer unto the Earth in the Southerne parts then in the Northerne; and thus by its approaching the South, heats it ſo violently, that it conſumes the water, and ſcorches the Earth, which it doth not at the North.

THe cauſe why the Sea doth not over-flow, augment, nor inlarge it ſelfe, though ſo much water is engendered in it, and that it doth continually receive ſo many Rivers and Fountaines into it; is, that the Sea is the naturall receptacle of all the Waters, and their proper retiring and reſting place, and therefore it doth not overflow, nor inlarge it ſelfe; for that no place can drive back, nor hinder the entrance of that thing which by nature ought to be in her, ſince naturally the place ought to conforme it ſelfe unto that which it incloſeth; like as the Sea, which being capable to receive into her all the Rivers, and nevertheleſſe for their entrance doth not over-flow, nor augment. Alſo the Sea doth not overflow, becauſe it is of ſuch a vaſt extent, that the Rivers are as nothing in conſideration to it. The third reaſon is, becauſe that the heat of the Sun, and the breath of the Wind, conſumes ſuch a quantity of Water, that though the Sea continually engenders, and that the Rivers inceſſantly run into it; yea God hath ordained, that it ſhould not leſſen, nor augment, as it is written in Job, Lord, thou haſt ſet a limit, the which it ſhall not paſſe. The holy Writ ſayes in Geneſis, that the water of the Deluge, did riſe fifteene Cubits over the higheſt Hils under the Heavens, inſomuch that all the Earth was covered with water. But though this increaſing of water was ſo great, yet nevertheleſſe the Sea did not over-flow the Earth, by tranſgreſſing its limits or bounds.

The increaſing of thoſe Waters proceeded from two cauſes; the one was, that the windowes of Heaven were opened, as the Text ſayes, and it rained on the earth forty dayes, and forty nights exceedingly; the other was, that the Fountaines, Rivers, and Currents did over-flow, inſomuch that the earth was by them covered, as aforeſaid, and every living ſubſtance was deſtroyed which was upon the face of the ground, except Noah, who only remained alive, and they that were with him in the Arke; and afterwards the ſame Text ſayes, that God cauſed a wind to paſſe over the earth, which abated the waters; the raine from Heaven was alſo reſtrained, and the earth returned to its firſt being.

Pliny writes in his ſecond Booke, the threeſcore and ſeventh Chapter, that in his time all the circuit of Spaine and France was ſayled about, and likewiſe all the Weſt.

Before Plato's time, there were Veſſels that ſayled from the Iſle of Cadiz, which is at the entry of the Straits of Gibraltar, to the Eaſt Indies.

When Tiberius Caeſar did governe the Empire, there were ſeene in the Arabian Sea, enſignes of Veſſels floating, which the Spaniards had loſt.

In the time of Auguſtus Caeſar, the greateſt part of the Ocean Sea was ſayled through.

When Seleucus and Antiochus did reigne, all the coaſt of the Caſpian Sea was ſayled through, and knowne by the Macedonian Armies.

The King of Switzerland gave to Metellus ſome Indians, which ſayling with Merchandiſes, were driven by a Tempeſt from their Country to Germany.

In the time of the Teutonicall Emperours, there were Eaſt Indian Embaſſadours found on the Germaine coaſt, which were driven thither by the violence of the wind.

Some Authors write of great numbers and multitude of Ships which were in ancient times, as thoſe of the Aſſyrians, Perſians, Grecians, &c.

Homer writes, that the Grecian Navie which came to Troy, conſiſted of one thouſand, one hundred, and foureſcore Ships.

Xerxes King of Perſia, came with five thouſand, five hundred Ships, ſeven hundred thouſand men, and three hundred thouſand of his friends and allies, to the deſtruction of Greece, and being come to the Pontick Sea, he made a Bridge of Ships over it, on the which he paſſed with his Army.

IS cheifly to deſcry the dangers which are by the way, as Rocks, Sands, and ſuch other like impediments, and to know how to avoid them: How far the places are diſtant, what wind or point of the Compaſſe ſerves to fail unto them; and alſo when the windes fall out croſſe by the way, to conſider how to direct the Veſſell, and to take the moſt advantagious courſe to attaine unto the intended Port in a convenient time. And if any ſtormes happen by the way, to indeavour the preſervation of both Ship and goods, and to bring her ſafe unto the Port aſſigned.

When the Sun ſpreads its beams far through the Aire, and that there ſeems to be ſome hollowneſſe in it, near the middle of the Sunne, that ſignifies Raine.

When ere the Sunne riſes, its beames are perceived, that ſignifies Raines, and Winds.

When the Sun ſets having its circle white, that ſignifies ſtormes for the night inſuing.

When the Sun is faire and cleare, without caſting any extraordinary heates at its riſing, that ſignifies a faire and cleare day, If it ſeemes to be yellow, it then ſignifies rain and Haile.

WHen from the top of woods or forreſts, a noiſe of wind is heard, and that thoſe who are out of the wood feele no wind, it ſignifies infallibly, a great enſuing ſtorme.

When the ſea being calme, is heard to murmure within it ſelfe, it ſignifies that great winds are towards.

When the Dolphins ſhew themſelves, and play above the waves, it is the ſign of an enſuing ſtorm, which you muſt expect from that part whence the Dolphin firſt appeared.

When the Sea Meews flye landward, and abandon the Sea, it is the ſigne of a ſtorme.

When the Rain-Bow appeares in the South, it ſignifies great ſhowers: Appearing towards the Weſt, its only a ſigne of Dew or Miſts.

But being ſeen in the Eaſt, it is a ſigne of fair and cleare weather.

At the beginning the winds have no great force, but the farther they blow, the more they increaſe in ſtrength, becauſe of the new exhalations which are mingled with them: As it happens in Floods, which though but little in their births, yet do augment and continually increaſe by the reception of new additionall waters.

When two contrary winds meet, the weakeſt always yeelds unto the ſtrongeſt, and this makes a whirle-wind, which cauſes the loſſe of Ships, when they chance to be under the power of ſuch a Whirle-wind.

The exhalations of which the winds are made, do not on the ſuddaine yeeld to the Clouds which they meete with in the Aire; but ſtrive to overcome them, and ſo to force their paſſage for their aſcent: and ſo it happens that ere they blow here beneath; we ſee the Clouds above move, by the agitation of the winds.

And becauſe the winds are compoſed of different matters, and qualities, to thoſe which forme the Raine, they cannot laſt long together, but alwayes ſtruggle and ſtrive untill they have overcome each other. And Raine moſt commonly gets the better, unleſſe the wind be provided with a great quantity of matter and ſubſtance.

Nor can the winds maintaine it ſelfe againſt the vehemency of extreame heats, nor againſt the rigour of extreame cold: becauſe the vehemency of heat diſperſes, and diſſipates it, and the rigour of the cold congeales and cloſes it up with the Clouds, and afterwards reduceth it into Raine.

The Divine providence of God, in the creation and diſpoſition of the winds, is worthy to be admired; not becauſe the ambition of men have made thereof an Inſtrument, and ſcourge to ruine themſelves, by abuſing thereof, as moſt men do, moſt imprudently, and vainly: As Xerxes King of Perſia did; who though he paſſed the Seas to go to Greece; yet could he not vanquiſh it, though he had in a manner covered it with Souldiers.

So Alexander: who having paſſed the Indies, yet would have ſearcht for ſomething more, even beyond the great Sea, and it greived him to heare that hee was at the worlds ends

But as for the incomprehenſible bounty of God, who hath diſpoſed of the windes into ſo many parts, for the preſervation of the Earth, and Aire in a ſweet temperance, for the bringing in of Raines, and afterwards the driving of them back, both for the nouriſhing of Fruits, Seeds, and all fruit Trees, which by the agitation of the winds, and other cauſes, are ripened, giving likewiſe nouriſhment to the Corne, which it ripens, and preſerves from drying and withering. Uſefull likewiſe to Man, towards the diſcovery of Forraigne parts, and remote Countryes, unto which unleſſe a man ſhould travell, he ſhould be farre more ignorant then many bruite beaſts, wanting the experience of divers things, which conduce towards the bettering of his underſtanding, &c.