From scotsman.com: A harrowing voyage to Canada for early Scots.
Posted on April 26, 2005 01:16 PM. Filed under: Canada.Spirits were already low when they ran into the gale off Newfoundland. The frail wooden ship struggled against the high winds and breaking Atlantic surf. For 14 days the passengers were rocked and shaken right back to where they had started - no nearer their destination and beginning to sicken.
There were more than 200 passengers on board the New World-bound Hector; they had enough supplies to last six weeks. As days became weeks and weeks turned to months, water began to run out. The only food left was mouldy oatcakes and salted meat, which mocked their thirst. (...)
Earlier that year - March 1773 - an advert in the Edinburgh Advertiser offered passage to Pictou, the Hector's destination. The ship's owner, Dr Witherspoon, and a Greenock merchant, Mr Pagan, had commissioned an agent to find people to bring to the new territory in Nova Scotia.
The agent, John Ross, painted a picture of a land of plenty with a good living for all. He promised passengers a farm and provisions for a year. Many crofters, made homeless by landlords freeing up pasture for sheep, took the voyage. As the ship weighed anchor, a castaway carrying his pipes, begged to be allowed to travel. The captain relented after passengers offered to share their provisions with him. [continue]