Chapter V: Part 5

From the time we left St. Catherine’s, till now, we had for the most part squally weather. As we advanced to the southward, my people’s stomachs increased with the sharpness of the air to that degree, that the allowance which the government gives in the navy was not sufficient to satisfy their hunger. Some of my officers, in particular Mr. Betagh, my Captain of marines, who had been formerly a purser of a man-of-war, and a man whom I had a great regard for, was the champion for an addition of allowance at my table; for he told me he had orders from the adventurers to eat with me; and what was my table, if I did not eat better than the cook? He did not stop here, but urged by his intemperance, and finding me unwilling to squander away our provisions, without knowing when or where we might get any more, he at length had the insolence to tell me publicly, that the voyage should be short with me, which he often repeated. I should have had reason to fear it, had he been capable of commanding; but, for his punishment, I excluded him both from my mess and the great cabbin. Upon this, finding I was in earnest with him, and fearing some heavier punishment, he sent me a letter, asking my pardon for what he had done; upon which I again restored him in a handsomer manner than he afterwards deserved, as will appear by the sequel.

Between St. Catherine’s and the river of Plate, the whales, grampusses, and other fish of monstrous bulk, are in such numbers, that I cannot see why a trade for blubber might not be carried on here. I may venture to affirm, it is a safer navigation than that carried on to the northward, and I am apt to believe here is a greater certainty of success in making up a cargo.

Sept. 19, about midnight I perceived the water to be discoloured all at once, and upon heaving the lead, we found ourselves in 26 fathom water; this done, I stood off again to sea, but we did not deepen our water in the running of five leagues. This seems to be a bank very near the entrance of the straits of Magellan. I had a fine opportunity of going through these straits: but Captain Clipperton in his plan pretended, out of the abundance of his judgment and experience, that the straits of Le Mair would be the best navigation for us, though he himself passed through the straits of Magellan. From this I might have conjectured, that he, who never was fond of having a consort with him, designed to make use of this as a likely expedient to separate himself; for he was a man that would do any thing, though ever so dishonest or inhuman;--[a reflection, however, that carries more of malice than of truth on the face of it.]

Sept. 13, the fog clearing up, we had a full, but melancholy prospect, of the most desolate country that can be conceived, seeming no other than continued ridges and chains of mountains, one within another, perpetually buried in snow. Towards noon we were becalmed within three leagues of the mountains called the Three Brothers, so named from their equal height, near resemblance, and proximity to one another. Till now, we had not been sensible of any helps or hindrances by currents; but this afternoon we were hurried with incredible rapidity into the straits, and just as we had gained somewhat more than the mid-passage, the northern tide came rushing upon us with a violence equal to that of the tide which had brought us in, and, to our great astonishment, drove us out of the straits again at a great and extraordinary rate, notwithstanding we had a fresh and fair gale with us at N. W. Upon the shifting of this tide to windward, there arose such a short, and, while it lasted, so hollow a sea, and so lofty withal, that we alternately dipped our bowsprit end, and poop lanthorns, into the water. Our ship laboured in the most alarming manner, and became insensible of the guidance of her helm; but at midnight the tide shifted, and we put through the straits without seeing the land on either side, and in the morning had a very good offing to the southward. We had found it very cold before we came this length, but now we began to feel the extreme of it. The bleak westerly winds of themselves would have been sufficiently piercing, but they were always attended with drifts either of snow or sleet, which, continually beating on our sails and rigging, cased the masts and every rope with ice, so that there was no handling them. It was common with us to be two or three days together lying to under bare poles, exposed all the while to the assaults of prodigious seas, much larger than any I had ever observed before. The winds reigning thus tempestuously, without intermission, in the western board, we had stretched away into lat. 61 deg. 30 min. S. where we were in continual dread of falling foul of islands of ice, and where we found the variation to be 22 deg. 6 min. to the north-eastward.

October 1, as we were furling the main-sail, one William Camell cried out, that his hands were so benumbed, he could not hold himself; but before those who were next to him could lay hold of him, he fell into the sea, and the ship making fresh way, and the sea running high, we lost sight of him before we could bring to. Indeed, one would imagine it impossible that any thing could live in so rigid a climate; and, truly, we saw neither fish nor bird, except one solitary albitross, which accompanied us for several days, and hovered about us, till Hatley concluding, in a gloomy fit, that the company of this melancholy bird brought us ill luck, resolved to destroy him, in hopes we might then have better weather.

October 22, at eight at night, we carried away our fore-top-mast, and rigged another next morning. We crept by very slow degrees, after we had ventured to tack and stand to the northward, in hopes to weather our way into the Great South Seas; and indeed it may be averred, that from the time we passed the straits of Le Mair, till we had the first sight of the coast of Chili, we had been continually distressed by the winds, and discouraged by bad weather.

Nov. 14, we saw the coast of Chili, distant 10 leagues, lat. by observation 47 deg. 28 min. S.

Being now arrived on the confines of the Spanish settlements, we found ourselves under an absolute necessity of contriving some means by which we might recruit our wood and water. We had but seven buts of water remaining, and a much less proportion of wood. I thought it would be best for us to go first to Narborough’s island, and accordingly directed our course to that place.

Nov. 21, at seven in the morning, we had soundings in 28 fathom water, of fine grey and black sand. But here we found a wild road, which could not be deemed safe for us.--[Here Captain Shelvock laments it as a great misfortune, that he could not reach Juan Fernandez, in latitude 33 deg. 30 min. S. without stopping; though at the same time it is plain, that he lost more time in searching for a nearer place of refreshment, than the direct passage to that island would have taken him up. But the imputation he would throw upon Clipperton is applicable only to himself: he never intended to act under him; and all his excuses are mere shifts.]

Surrounded with doubts and apprehensions, says he, lest we should be obliged to advance too far on these coasts, without a competent stock of provisions, one Joseph de la Fontaine, a Frenchman, assured me, that, if I would go to the island of Chiloe, which was at that time a little to the northward of us, there was no place for our purpose like it in all the South Seas; that the towns of Chacao and Calibuco, the first on the island itself, and the second on the continent, were rich places; that the former was the usual place of residence of the Governor, and that at the latter there was a wealthy college of Jesuits; and that there were considerable magazines kept up, which were always well stocked with provisions of all kinds.

On these considerations I formed a resolution of going to Chiloe; and on the 30th of November we entered the channel, with an intent to surprize and attack the towns of Chacao and Calibuco: but, immediately after we had come to, the windward tide made out with prodigious rapidity, which instantly caused a great sea; and the wind increasing at the same time, the channel all about us appeared like one continued breach. In the midst of this our ship laid a great strain upon her cable, which unfortunately parted, and we lost our anchor. We passed by two commodious bays; and, at length, we rounded a point of land out of the tide’s way, where we were commodiously sheltered from all inconveniences; and, the next morning, I sent my second Lieutenant to make a discovery of the towns of Chacao and Calibuco, and, at the same time, Captain Hatley, to find out a watering-place for us. He soon returned again, and brought with him an Indian, who gave us hopes of a sufficient supply of all we wanted, but afterwards came in the evening to tell us, the country was forbidden to supply us with any thing. The Lieutenant not being yet returned, this information made me apprehend the enemy had taken him, and by that means had learned who we were.

December 3, there came to us a Spanish officer, in a piragua rowed by eight Indians, who was sent by the Governor to be informed who we were. As soon as we had a sight of the piragua, I hoisted French colours, and, when the Spaniard came on board, I told him, we were a homeward-bound French ship called the St. Rose, and that my name was le Janis le Breton. Under this notion he staid with us all night, and next morning departed, not seeming to suspect us. I wrote to the Governor by this gentleman, signifying, that I wanted a supply of provisions to carry me back to France, desiring him to assist me in what he could; and received for answer a complaint against the violences of our men, in killing their sheep, and driving away their cattle, by which I knew that they had seen my Lieutenant. But I was in despair of ever seeing him, or the people who were with him, any more. I therefore sent a message to the Governor, that provisions I wanted, and provisions I must have, and that very speedily; and that all the forces of Chacao, Calibuco, Carelmapo, or Castro, should not frighten or deter me from supplying myself. Soon after, there came a piragua with a message, signifying, that if I would send an officer to Chacao, he would treat with me. But I gave him for answer, that I would treat no where but on board my own ship; and farther, that it was now too late, since I had already dispatched 80 men to take all they could find.

Soon after the pinnace arrived, which I had so long given over for lost, with all her crew; but they were so terrified, that I had no hopes of their being fit for service in any reasonable time. The officer had no excuse for not returning as soon as he had got a sight of the town, but that the tide hurried him away at unawares, and that in the fright he had forgot he had a graplin in the boat to come to with, till the tide had shifted. I said but little to him; and only made the officer sensible of his mismanagement, which had been the ruin of the advantageous views I might have had, in taking either Chacao or Calibuco.

December 16, we had now our decks full of live cattle, such as European sheep, hogs, guanicoes, poultry in abundance, and hams, &c. as also a good quantity of wheat, barley, potatoes, maize, or Indian corn; and, in short, I computed that I had added four months provisions to what remained of our English stock, and that without the least hindrance or molestation from the enemy.

December 17, we began to unmoor, and at noon we weighed, and sailed out with the wind at W. S. W. The night before we departed, one of our men made his escape into the woods. It was beyond all dispute that this fellow would give a full account of us. This, added to the ill conduct of my Lieutenant, together with the contrary execution of all my orders, by those officers whom I had hitherto entrusted in affairs of importance, made me despair of ever having any thing done to purpose; and on this occasion, I could not forbear reflecting on the mismanagement of some gentlemen in England, who blindly made use of their interest to prefer persons to posts for which they were utterly unfit.

I sailed from Chiloe with a design to go straight to the island of Juan Fernandez, but was prevented by my people, who were possessed with notions of vast advantages to be made by going to the port of Conception. It was our Frenchman, who had been so instrumental in our Chiloenian attempt, who was the cause of this. Finding his accounts hitherto tolerably just, they once more listened to him; and every one of my ship’s company, who could say any thing at this juncture, did not fail to speak his mind somewhat insolently; particularly William Morphew, one of the men I had out of the Ruby, and who had been in these seas several years, took upon him to tell me that it could not signify much whether we arrived two or three days sooner or later at Juan Fernandez; that I was a stranger here, but that the Frenchman and himself were so well acquainted with these seas, that every body hoped I would be advised and go to Conception, and not put a mere punctilio to orders in the balance against a certainty of success, if we were so happy as to arrive at that port in time. Considering now how easily they might be brought to throw off command, and how little I should be able to help myself, alone, as I might be said to be, if they came to that extremity, I complied with them, and resolved to spend two or three days in going to Conception; and, on December the 23d, we came abreast of the Teats of Bio Bio, and in the evening arrived in the bay, from whence I ordered the boats, well manned and armed, to go up in the night to surprize what ships or vessels might be in the harbour, and to make what observations they could concerning the place.

About noon, Captain Hatley returned in the pinnace, and informed me he had taken the Solidad d’Anday, of 150 tons, the only ship in the road or port, lately come from Baldivia, laden with timber; had no body on board except the boatswain, an old negroe, and two Indian boys. He took also a small vessel of about 25 tons, near the island of Quiriquine, which belonged to a priest who had been gathering fruits, and was now made a prisoner in her, together with four or five Indians. This vessel we found very useful, and called her the Mercury, being well built, and ready upon all occasions to look into port. There was another small vessel that passed within pistol-shot, but Capt. Hatley never once offered to follow her, or bring her to. Hatley, truly, said, he did not mind her, though his boat’s crew all agreed she was full of men. This vessel was bringing advice of us from Chiloe. I did not fail to reprimand him for this, but to what effect!

Dec. 26, the priest being very solicitous to ransom his bark, he left my ship in the morning, and, in my pinnace rowed by Indians, went ashore to get money for that purpose. At noon, Mr. Brooks, first Lieutenant, brought down the ship we had taken, and anchored her about half a mile short of us. The boatswain of her had not been on board above two hours before he gave me information of a vessel laden with wine, brandy, and other valuable things, bound to the island of Chiloe, lying at anchor in the bay of Herradura, about two leagues to the northward of us. Thither I ordered Mr. Randall, our second Lieutenant, with the boatswain of the Solidad, and 25 men, to go; with positive orders not to set a foot on shore, or make any hazardous attempt whatever. But the next evening they returned with a dismal story, that they went into the bay, and finding the vessel hauled dry on shore, the officer ordered his people to land, and bring away what they could out of her; but their career was soon stopped; for they had no sooner got upon the bank, than they discovered the enemy rushing out furiously upon them. They all escaped except five, who were overtaken in shoal water, and they all agreed that those five were cut to pieces. The Spaniards came down upon them, preceded by 20 or 30 horses a-breast, linked to each other. These were two deep; then came the enemy, mounted, and lying upon their horses necks, driving the others before them. They were not once seen to sit upright in their saddles, except when there was no danger, or to fire their musquets. This new addition to our misfortunes quite dispirited the greatest part of my ship’s company. Nothing was now heard but murmuring, and damning the South Seas, and declaring that, if this was making their fortune, they had better have staid at home and begged about the streets; but just as I was expostulating with Mr. Randall, who conducted this unfortunate undertaking, I was agreeably surprized with the sight of a large ship, which we saw coming about the northernmost point of the island of Quiriquine. It was almost dark, and she could not perceive what we were, so that she stood towards us without fear. As soon as she approached near enough, I hailed her, to which she returned no answer, and I fired into her. This was no sooner done, than she came to, and called for quarter. She was called the St. Fermin, came from Callao, burthen about 300 tons, and laden with sugar, melasses, rice, coarse French linnen, and some cloths of Quito, together with a small quantity of chocolate, and about 5 or 6000 dollars in money and wrought plate. I sent Mr. Hendry (the agent for prizes) to inspect her lading, and to order every thing he could find valuable out of her, and the ship’s company sent their agent likewise. In the afternoon they returned, and brought all the bales, boxes, chests, portmanteaus, &c. that were in her; and also all the rice, with a large quantity of sugar, melasses, and chocolate, and about 7000 weight of good rusk, with all her eatables, and stores.

Don Francisco Larrayn, her Captain, desired to ransom his ship, to which I willingly consented, and suffered him to go in his own launch to raise money for that purpose.

Dec. 30, there came a boat with an officer and a flag of truce, who brought word that three only of our people in the skirmish at Harradura were killed, the other two wounded, and in a fair way of recovery, and that the boat had brought advice of us, as I suspected, from that island. The officer brought me seven jars of very good wine, a present from the Governor, and a letter full of civility, but written with a great deal of craft. He desired to see my commission, and then he would treat with me according to the laws of arms.

January 1, Captain Betagh went to Conception with a copy of my commission, the declaration of war, &c. and soon after he returned with a Flemish jesuit, a Spanish lawyer, and an Englishman and a Scotchman. The jesuit assured me he was only come to pay his respects to me, and to do his utmost to promote the affair of the ransom, and bring it to an immediate conclusion. Therefore the first thing I did, was to shew my commission to the Englishman, who read it in Spanish. The jesuit then told me, that the Captains of the St. Fermin and Solidad had resolved to give me 12,000 dollars for the ransom of both the ships, and the Mercury included, instead of 16000 dollars which I had insisted on for the St. Fermin only. To this I positively answered, that all their persuasions, artifices, and pretences, should never make me agree with them. We had taken in the St. Fermin, ten large silver candlesticks, each of them weighing above twenty-five pounds sterling. The holy father, in a suppliant manner, represented to me that they were a legacy to his convent, and hoped I would make no dispute of so noble a charity as it would be to put them into the possession of those for whom they were designed. I offered to let him have them for their weight in dollars, which, considering the great price they pay in those parts for the fashion of wrought plate, was a very advantageous offer. But he said they never bought any thing for sacred uses; and that, as the workmen put a great deal of allay into plate, it would be difficult to determine the different values of the dollars and the candlesticks; so, after a deal of needless dispute and entreaties, both about this, and the ransom of the ships, the jesuit and the rest affirming that the Captains of the St. Fermin, &c. were not able to raise above 12,000 dollars, there was nothing done.

Two days passing without news from the Governor, I began to be certainly convinced they had something else in view more than the accommodation of the ransoms; but on January the 4th, my two wounded men came on board, and with them brought a letter, importing, that, as he had now sent back the prisoners, he hoped no difficulty would remain to prevent my sending on shore all the prisoners belonging to him.

January 6, the morning passed away without any news from the town. I now began to make preparations for sailing, and in those preparations spent the greatest part of the day. There being no appearance of any boat coming off to us, I ordered the St. Fermin to be set on fire. Her cotton sails being loosed, made a prodigious blaze. I had already set fire to the Solidad, to quicken their motions; and now, having concluded the treaty, I immediately got under sail, much chagrined at the loss of so many days without reaping any advantage. I was afterwards informed, that, if they had thought I would have destroyed the St. Fermin, they would have given even 20 or 30,000 dollars to have saved her; for she was one of the best sailers and the best fitted out ship of any of the Peruvian traders. I now directed our course to the island of Juan Fernandez, taking the Mercury with us.

January 8, the sea was all day perfectly red, appearing as if vast quantities of blood had been thrown into it, and curdled by the water. This, the Spaniards say, is occasioned by the spawn of prawns, which must certainly be a mistake. In our passage, the plunder was sold before the mast, by the ship’s company’s agent, at very extravagant prices. At the same time the account of every thing being taken, and the value of the shares calculated, the ship’s company desired me to let them have their dividend, according to the articles at St. Catherine’s, which request I could not withstand. The prize-money and plunder amounting to ten pieces of eight per share, was thereupon distributed; and all the bales of coarse cloth, bays, linnen, ribbons, lace, silk, and several other sorts of mercery wares, were equally divided, half to the owners, and half to the ship’s company.

Jan. 11, at six in the morning, we saw the island of Juan Fernandez, and from that day till the 15th I kept standing off and on the shore for my boats, which were a fishing, who not having hitherto discovered any marks whereby we might conclude that Clipperton had been here, I thought it proper to render my coming hither serviceable in some respect, and therefore sent the Mercury on shore to stop her leaks, while the boats continued catching fish, of which we salted as much as filled five puncheons. At length, going on shore to make a nicer search, some of my men accidentally saw the word MAGEE, which was the name of Clipperton’s surgeon, and CAPT. JOHN cut out under it upon a tree, but no directions left, as was agreed on by him in his instructions to me. His actions being thus grosly repugnant to his instructions, it was evident he never meant I should keep him company, or ever join with him again.--[This reflection may with great justice be retorted on the writer himself, and can in no shape affect Clipperton who followed his instructions in the most scrupulous manner.]--However, being by this confirmed in the certainty of Clipperton’s arrival, I directly made the best of my way, and sailed to the northward.

Jan. 21, having a design to look into Copiapo as I went along shore, I sent Mr. Dodd, second Lieutenant of marines, with eight men, as a reinforcement to the Mercury’s crew, and the next evening they left us steering in for the land, whilst I kept a proper offing, to prevent our being discovered. The next day the officer returned and told me, he had looked into the port, but could see no shipping there, upon which I made him sensible of his error, and sent him to the right place, which was about six leagues to the northward of us, and ordered him to be ready to look into Caldera by day-light the next morning. They did so, and saw nothing; but, instead of making use of the land wind to come off to me, they kept along shore, till the sea breeze came on, and could not come to me till the morning after, by which means they hindered me almost a whole day and night’s sailing; and in this vexatious manner were my orders always executed!

Feb. 5th, I dispatched Mr. Brooks a-head to discover if there were any shipping at Arica, and next day, I had a sight of the head-land of Arica, and the island of Guano, with a ship at anchor on the northern side of it, and saw the Mercury standing out of the bay, by which I judged the ship was too warm for her, and therefore made all possible haste to get up to her with our ship. When I came into the port, I found her already taken, and that the Mercury only went accidentally adrift. This prize was called the Rosario, of about 100 tons, laden with cormorants dung, which the Spaniards call guana, and is brought from the island of Iquique, for the culture of the agi, or cod-pepper, in the vale of Arica. There was no white face in her but the pilot, whom I sent to see if her owner would ransom her. At seven o’clock in the morning I received a letter from the owner, expressing his poverty, and declaring his readiness to comply to the utmost of his power: and the honest man was as good as his word.

I agreed upon restoring to him his ship, and six negroes, for 1500 pieces of eight; and he was so punctual and expeditious, that at 10 the next night he brought the sum agreed on. Soon after the receipt of this, we took a vessel of about 10 tons, as she was coming into the road, with a cargo of dried fish and guana, within a mile of the town. The master of this bark likewise came off upon a balse, which is an odd sort of an embarkation made of two large seal-skins separately blown up like bladders, and then made fast and joined together by a frame of wood. On this he brought off two jars of brandy, and 40 pieces of eight, for his ransom, which, considering his mean appearance, was as much as I could have expected. One part of his freight was valuable, which was his dried fish.

Feb. 9, 1720, I sailed from Arica, and as I went out, the inhabitants placed themselves round the bay, and made a very good hedge fire after me for about half an hour. I judged there could not be less than 5 or 600 of them. I shaped my course for the road of Hilo, which we had a sight of the next day at three in the afternoon, where we saw one large ship and three small ones at anchor. The great ship immediately hoisted French colours, and in the end proved to be the Sage Solomon, of 40 guns, commanded by Mons. Dumain, whom I had left at St. Catherine’s, and who was now resolved to protect the vessels that were with him, and obstruct my coming in. I at first thought of shewing my resentment, but, upon second thoughts, I clapped the helm a-weather, and stood out to sea.

Feb. 12, in the morning, the ship’s company had their moiety of the money taken at Arica divided amongst them, according to their number of shares.

Feb. 22, I came a-breast of Callao, the port for Lima, which is the metropolis of Peru; but there being no great prospect of performing much here in our present situation, I had nothing to do but to slip away from hence in the night, by the help of a favourable breeze.

Feb. 26, the officers in the Mercury desired to be relieved, and it being Capt. Hatley’s turn to go in her, he proposed to me that he might continue along shore, till we had got the length of Lobos, an island in about seven degrees of south latitude. I could not but approve of this, considering the probability there was of his meeting with the Panama ships; and every body being well pleased, I added to their complement of men, and gave them a month’s provisions, and mounted two of our quarter-deck guns on the Mercury, and lent Captain Hatley my pinnace. As soon as every thing was ready for their departure, Captain Betagh, whose duty and turn it was to relieve the marine officer in the Mercury, being unwilling to go on this party, addressed himself to the people, and with a fearful countenance told them, that he, and the rest who were to go with him, were sent for a sacrifice, with many other expressions tending to create a general mutiny. I now imagined no less than that he was about to act what he had threatened when he told me, it should be a short voyage with me; and, therefore, I addressed myself to the ship’s company, desired to know who amongst them were of Betagh’s opinion? Their answer was with one voice, None. This done, I ordered the Mercury alongside, and Hatley and Betagh went on board of her; and, putting off from us, gave three cheers, and stood right in for the land, in the latitude by observation of 10 deg. 9 min. S.

The very next day they took a small bark laden with rice, chocolate, wheat, flour, and the like. The day following they took another. On the fourth day of their absence they became masters of a ship of near 200 tons, worth 150,000 pieces of eight. Flushed with this success, it seems Betagh prevailed on Hatley, and the greatest part of the people with them, to lay hold of this opportunity and go to India: but they no sooner clapped their helm a-weather, than they saw a sail standing towards them, which, in short, proved to be a Spanish man-of-war, who caught them, and put an end to their Indian voyage. The English were treated very indifferently; but Betagh, it seems, who was of their religion, and of a nation which the Spaniards affect to be fond of, was made an officer, and used very respectfully. This he certainly deserved at their hands; for he gave them an account of the whole scheme of our voyage; and not only informed them of what we had done, but also of what I designed to do; so that they did not doubt but I myself should be in their hands very speedily.

Feb. 29, at six in the morning, we saw a sail at anchor in the road of Guanchaco; at eleven we came up, and anchored along side of her. There was no body on board of her but two Indian men and a boy. They informed us, there was a rich ship in the cove of Payta.

March 21, at three in the afternoon, we saw the Pena Oradado, or the _Hole in the Rock_; and in an hour afterwards, we entered the cove of Payta with French colours flying. There we found only a small ship at anchor with her fore-mast out, and her main-top-mast unrigged; but the taking of this town being considered in the scheme of our voyage as a matter of great importance, I consulted with my officers concerning the properest methods of going about it. At two of the clock the next morning I landed with 46 men, leaving Mr. Coldsea the master, and some others, to bring the ship nearer in, that we might the more expeditiously embark the plunder we might get. Being now on shore, I marched up to the great church without meeting any opposition; and indeed I found the town entirely deserted by the inhabitants. At day-light we saw what seemed great bodies of men on the hills, on each side of us, who, I expected, when they had viewed our strength, would have paid us a visit; but I found, that as we marched up towards them, we drove them before us. The remainder of the day was spent in shipping off what plunder we had got, which consisted of hogs, fowls, brown and white calavances, beans, Indian corn, wheat, flour, sugar, and as much cocoa-nut as we were able to stow away, with pans, and other conveniences for preparing it; so that we were supplied with breakfast-meat for the whole voyage, and full of provisions of one kind or other. In the afternoon there came to us a messenger, to know what I would take for the ransom of the town and ship; to which I answered, I would have 10,000 pieces of eight, and those to be paid in twenty-four hours, if they intended to save the town, or ship either. But the Governor gave me to understand in plain terms, that he neither could nor would ransom the town, and did not care what I did with it, so that I spared the churches. Having received this negative answer, and got every thing serviceable out of the town, I instantly ordered it to be set on fire; and the houses, being extremely dry, consumed away apace. But no sooner was Payta in a blaze than those on board made signals for me to come off, and kept incessantly firing towards the mouth of the harbour. Upon which I ordered all hands off, and went first on board myself in a canoe, with three men only; but, before I had got half way, saw a large ship lying with her fore-top-sail aback, and with a Spanish flag flying at her fore-top-mast-head. At this prospect, two of my three people were ready to sink; and when I looked back on the town, I could not forbear wishing that I had not been so hasty. As the Admiral was coming in with all his sails spread, Mr. Coldsea, by the assistance of the few on board, fired at him so smartly, that he stopped the enemy’s career. The Spaniard apprehending he should have hot work with us, brought his ship to, that he might put himself into a condition of making a vigorous attack upon us. This inactivity of the enemy gave me an opportunity of getting on board, and suffered my men to come off, about 50 in number, but the Spaniard was within pistol-shot before they had all got into the ship; upon which, we cut our cable, and our ship falling the wrong way, I had but just room enough to fill clear of him. Being now close by one another, his formidable appearance struck an universal damp on every one’s spirits; and I myself could foresee nothing but that we should be torn to pieces by him, and longed for an opportunity to try our heels with him, whilst our masts were standing. I expected every minute that he would board us, and, upon hearing a shouting amongst them, and seeing their forecastle full of men, I concluded they had now come to that resolution; but I presently saw that the occasion of this joy was their having shot down our ensign-staff; upon which, they, seeing our ensign trailing in the water, were in hopes we had struck: but I soon undeceived them, by spreading a new ensign in the mizzen shrouds. Upon sight of this they lay snug, and held their way close upon our quarter; at last, designing to do our business at once, they clapped their helm well a starboard, to bring their whole broadside to point at us; but their fire had little or no effect. All stood fast with us, and they muzzled themselves; which gave me time both to get a-head, and to windward of him, before he could fill his sails again; and now I found, that, if our masts, which were by this time but slenderly supported, would bear what sail we had abroad, we should soon steal away from him. After this he was in a great hurry to get his spritsail-yard fore and aft, threatening us very hard, and plying us with his fore-chace: but we soon were out of his reach, and all hands were immediately employed in repairing our damages. This ship was called the Peregrine, of 56 guns, with upwards of 450 men on board of her.

During this action, we had not a man killed or wounded, although the enemy often hulled us, and once, in particular, a shot coming into one of our ports, dismounted one of our guns between decks, tearing off the nut of the gun, and breaking itself into a great many pieces, which flew fore and aft in the midst of a crowd of people, without hurting any one of them. Our stern was also much shattered, and our rigging much disabled. Our main-mast was a little wounded, yet stood a long while with only one good shroud to support it; our fore-mast fared little better, yet I kept all the canvas, except the main-top-gallant-sail, at hard bats-end. An unlucky shot took the bow of our launch, as she lay upon the quarter, and set fire to some cartridges of powder, which were negligently left in her, and which blew away her moorings, and we lost her. Seeing a great smoke arise on the quarter, I at first imagined some accident had happened within board. In short, in about three glasses we got quite clear of the Admiral, who tacked, and stood in for Payta, and we shortened sail. A narrower escape from an enemy could not well have been made, considering the vast difference between us, as to force. The Spaniard had 56 guns; we, on the contrary, had but 20 mounted: they had 450 men; we, on our part, did not exceed 73; and 11 negroes and two Indians were included in that number. He had farther this great odds over us, of being in a settled readiness, whilst we were in the utmost confusion. As for our small arms, they were wet and useless to us; and, what is more, in the midst of the engagement, one third of my people, instead of fighting, were hard at work, to make farther preparation for an obstinate resistance, if we had been pushed to extremities; and particularly the carpenter and his crew were busied in making ports for stern-chace-guns, which, as it happened, we made no use of. Upon the whole, we had the good fortune to escape this danger, which was the more to be dreaded, because, as we had set fire to the town, they were probably exasperated upon the account of the churches, which I never intended to destroy; and, if I had fallen into their hands, they might have given us but uncomfortable quarters. At the best, however, it cannot but be allowed to have been a most unfortunate disaster. The loss of my boat and anchor was irreparable, and may be said to be the cause of that scene of trouble which will take up the remainder of this narrative; for we had now but one anchor, that at Payta being the third we had lost, and were besides entirely destitute of a boat of any kind.

At five, the same evening, we saw a sail under our lee-bow, which I took to be the prize we had left to cruise for us near the Saddle of Payta; and we, therefore, stood to the westward all night, and the next morning we saw two sail a-stern of us. I tacked, and stood towards them, and in a little time could see that one of them was standing in for Payta, while the other kept stemming with us; but the nearer I approached her, the less I liked her, and could not but think it adviseable to put my ship about, and crowd sail from her. However, she gained upon us, and advanced near enough to shew us she was the Brilliant, the Admiral’s consort. She was a French-built ship, of 36 guns, manned with people of that nation, and other Europeans. She was handsomely rigged, which is rare to be seen in those parts, and sailed almost two foot for our one; so that, notwithstanding we had almost a calm all the heat of the day, she neared us apace. But, night coming on, I made use of the old stratagem (I thought it might be new here), of turning a light adrift in a half tub, instead of a boat, darkening one part of the lanthorn, that it might the more appear to be a ship’s light, and then immediately altered my course. As the day broke I handed all my sails, and in full day-light could perceive nothing of the enemy. This was the ship wherein Betagh, my late Captain of marines, was so much respected; and by his advice it was, as I have been told, that the Admiral ordered his consort to ply up to windward to Lobos, our first place of rendezvous, whilst he himself came to Payta in search of us. This separation, though intended as a sure means to catch us, proved to be very fortunately the means of our preservation.

Being thus closely pursued, I took an offing of thirty leagues from the shore, and then brought to, to consider what I had best to do. I was still in the dark, as to my consort; an embargo, as I was told at Payta, was laid on all shipping to leeward for the term of six months; and our prize, which I designed to make a fire-ship of, was taken by the Brilliant; I had but one anchor, and no boat at all; and I was as yet ignorant of what had become of the Mercury.

In the midst of all this peril and perplexity, I called my officers together, to let them know, it was my opinion, we had, as we were thus circumstanced, a much better prospect to the windward than to the leeward; that on the coast of Chili we should not be in the least suspected, and should, at the same time, in the most effectual manner, escape the enemy’s men-of-war; that, after taking in water at Juan Fernandez, we might cruise out the whole season off the ports of Conception, Valparaiso, and Coquimbo, where among the shipping we might be stocked with anchors, cables, boats, and a vessel to make a fire-ship of, on which I mightily depended. All this being universally approved of, we got our tacks on board, and stretched away to windward.

My intentions after this were fixed upon the coast of Mexico. There I proposed to run the height of Tres Marias and California, as the most likely places to meet with the Success. These two places would have been commodious; the first for salting of turtle, and the last for wooding and watering at, and for laying myself in the track of the Manilla ship, which, if I should have had the fortune to meet with, and, having a fire-ship with me, I would have tried what I could have done with her.

March 26, having well secured our mast, and bent a new suit of sails, we stood to the southward, expecting to gain our passage to windward in about five weeks.

March 31, as they were pumping the ship, the water which came out of the well, was not only in greater quantity than usual, but was also as black as ink. This made me judge that some water had got to our powder; and accordingly going into the powder-room, we heard the water come in like a little sluice. This had quite spoiled the greatest part of our powder; so that we only saved the quantity of six barrels. We found upon search a leak to be on the bow, under the lower cheek of the head, occasioned by a shot which had been lodged there in our late engagement, and which falling out by the working of the ship in an head sea, had left room for a stream of water; but we brought the ship by the stern, and, with great difficulty, stopped it securely.

May 11, we saw the great island of Juan Fernandez, bearing east half south. Here I plied on and off till the 21st, but could not get off as much water as we daily expended.

May 21, a hard gale of wind came out of the sea upon us, and brought in with it a tumbling swell; so that in a few hours, our cable, which was never wet before, parted, and inevitable shipwreck appeared before our eyes. But Providence so far interposed in our behalf, that, if we had struck but a cable’s length farther to the eastward or westward of the place where we did strike, we must certainly all have perished. Our main-mast, fore-mast, and mizzen-top-mast, went all away together; and happy it was for us that they did so; for, by making them serve by way of raft, and by the help of those who were ashore before the wind came on, we were all saved, except one man. In the midst of this surprize, the first thing I took care of, was my commission; and, remembering the powder to be uppermost in the bread-room, I got most of it up, with about seven or eight bags of bread: these we saved, as the ship did not come to pieces immediately. In a few minutes, however, after she first struck, she was full of water. We saved, notwithstanding, two or three compasses, some of our mathematical instruments, and books.

When we first got on shore, we were without any one thing necessary for our relief; not so much as a seat whereon to rest our harrassed limbs, except the wet ground, which, as far as we could see, was also like to be our bed and pillow, and indeed it proved to be so.

In the evening, all the officers came to consult with me, how we should get some necessaries out of the wreck; and, having by this time lighted a fire, we wrapt ourselves in what we could get, laid ourselves round it, and, notwithstanding the badness of the weather, we slept very soundly; but, the next morning, getting up with the first glimpse of day-light, we looked at each other like men awakened out of a dream; so great and so sudden was the melancholy change in our condition, that we could scarce trust to our senses.

I went immediately among the people to set them about the work we had resolved upon the night before; but they were so scattered, there was no getting them together, or we might, probably, have regained all our beef and pork. This opportunity, however, was lost, by their eagerness to build huts and tents, in order to settle themselves for good; for, while they were thus employed, a furious gale of wind came on, which destroyed all the provisions in the ship, except one cask of beef, and one of farina de pao, which were washed whole on the strand. I had saved 1100 dollars belonging to the gentlemen adventurers, which were kept in my chest in the great cabbin; the rest, being in the bottom of the bread-room for security, could not possibly be come at. I need not say how disconsolate my reflections were on the sad accident that had happened. My first thoughts were on the means whereby to preserve our lives, and on some scheme of œconomy to be observed amongst the people, in relation to the distribution of such quantities of provisions as should from time to time be obtained.

I found a very commodious spot of ground about half a mile from the sea, on which I set up my tent. There was a fine run of water within a stone’s cast of it on each side, with firing near at hand, and trees proper for our use. The people settled within call about me, in as good a manner as they could: and having all secured ourselves against the inclemency of the weather, we used to pass our time in the evening round a great fire, roasting craw-fish in the embers.

I now began to think of building such a vessel from the wreck as might carry us all off at once from this island; and for that purpose consulted with the carpenter; but was astonished at his answer, ‘he could not make brick, he said, without straw,’ and walked away from me in a surly humour. From him I went to the armourer, and asked him what he could do towards building a small vessel for us; to which he answered, that he hoped he could do all the iron-work; that he had, with much labour, got his bellows out of the wreck, and that he did not doubt but we should find a great many other useful things, when we came to set about a search for them in good earnest.

June 8, we laid the blocks to build upon, and had the bowsprit ready. The carpenter for a little while went on with seeming good temper, but suddenly turning short upon me as I stood by him, he swore a great oath, he would not strike another stroke, ‘he truly would be no body’s slave, and thought himself now upon a footing with myself.’ This provoked me to use him a little roughly with my cane; but afterwards came to an agreement with him to give a four-pistole piece as soon as the stem and stern-post were up, and 100 pieces of eight when the bark was finished. He then went to work on the keel, and in two months time we made a tolerable show, owing to the diligence and ingenuity of Popplestone, the armourer, who made us hammers, chissels, files, gimlets, bullet-moulds, and an instrument to bore our cartouch-boxes. These last we covered with seals skins, and contrived them so as to be both handy and neat. He, besides all this, began and finished with his own hands, a large serviceable boat, which was what we very much stood in need of.