Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, H Scott (1915) rev 1917, 1920;vol 8 p 469 Addenda, St Andrews Second, 1697

ALEXANDER SHIELDS, in the Kirk Session Records of 4th Aug. 1701 there is a copy of a letter by him to the Session, dated from the Rising Sun, Caledonia Bay, 2nd Feb. 1700. After personal references he recounts the " wicked society of monsters" he was thrust in among during the voyage, and how near he was brought to the gates of death by a long and severe fever which raged among them all the voyage, which few escaped, and whereby about 150 persons were cut off by death besides what had died since; their arrival on 30th Nov. 1699, and their sad disappointment in finding the colony deserted instead of the comfortable settlementthat they had expected, nothing being left but a howling wilderness with all the circumstances of impassable woods and vast desolations never frequented by man kind, and dangers and difficulties: a land pleasant, fruitful, rich, if only they had the means to subdue it, and the skill to improve it; no shelter except the ships, or under trees, or little huts made by tree branches; no provisions except what had been brought from Scotland, and these now musty, rotten, old, salt, and near to exhaustion, which, if it occurred, would mean the break-up of the colony. However, in spite of the discouragements, difficulties, and apparent hopelessness of the situation, mindful of the promises that he had made at home, and in dependence upon God, he would stay on till it was seen what would become of the colony, and "some weak endeavours be made to lay the foundations of a Church" he would return home with all expedition as soon as his "year was out," or sooner if the colony broke up because of the lack of provisions.