IJO L O R D A N S O N ’ S V O Y A G E
Tbus was this unhappy veffel bandied about, within a few leagues
and er/ " te" ded. 'harb° urJ the neighbourhood of that place
and of thofe circumftances which could alone put an end to thé
calam.ttes they laboured under, ferved only to aggravafe heir dff
refs, by torturmg them with a view of the relfef f t t
theu power to reach. But Are was, at laft, delivered from this
dreadful fituation, at a time when we lead expeXed it ; for after
having loft fight o f her for feveral days, we were pleafingjyfor
prtfed, on the mormng of the 23d of July, to fee her open Ate'
A f T h T ? 57 W,th 3 fl°WinS faiI ’ when we immédiat lv
ddpatched what boats we had to her affiftance and , V
time, from our firft perceiving her, (he anchored fafe within uTin
the bay. And now we were more particularly convinced of the
importance o f the affiftance and refreffiment^we fo often f
| f e É w l p i * WOuld have bee» for aman of them
to have furvived, had we given lefs attention to their wants' /
to aa anchor, our firft endeavours were to aftift them in m J Z l
and our next to fend their lick on (hore • thefe “ g’'
by death, to lefs than fourfeore, o f which we expected “to
greateft part ; but, whether it was that thofe fartheft Id
difle“ P« were all dead, or that M B M f e f e f te T n
fions we had fent on board had preparedWe .w h ich ÏmaTned
to their ftrength in a much (horter time than Ë Ë ! " " I f l l P
when we firft came to the Ifland, and very few of them d ieïon
I have
I haye thus given an account of the principal events relating to
the arrival o f the Gloucejier in one continued narration. I (hall
only add, that we never were joined by any other of our (hips, except
our ViXualer the Anna Pink, who came in about the middle
of dugtift, and whofe hiftory I (hall defer for the prefent; as it is
now high time to return to the account of our own traufaXions
on board, and on (hore, during the interval o f the Gloucejier s frequent.
and ineffeXual attempts to reach the Ifland.
Our next employment, after fending our fick on (hore from the
Centurion, was cleaofiOg our (hip, and filling our water. The firft
o f thefe meafures was indifpenfably neceflary to our future health,
as thenumbers of fick, and the unavoidable negligence arifing from
our deplorable fituation at fea, had rendered the decks mod: intolerably
loathfome. And the filling our water was a caution that
appeared not lefs effential to our fecurity, as we had reafon to apprehend
that accidents might intervene, which would oblige us to
quit the Ifland at a very (hort warning ; for fome appearances, we
had difeovered on (hore upon our firft landing, gave us grounds to
believe that there were Spanijh cruifers in thefe feas, which had
left the Ifland but a (hort time before our arrival, and might pof-
fibly return thither again, either for a recruit o f water, or in fearrh
o f u s ; fince we could not doubt, but that the foie bufinefs they
had at fea was to intercept us ; and we knew that this Ifland was
the likelieft place, in their own opinion, to meet with us. The
circumftances, which gave rife to thefe reflexions (in part of which
we were not miftaken, as (hall be obferved more at large hereafter),
were our finding on (hore feveral pieces o f earthen jars,
made ufe o f in thofe feas for water and other liquids, which appeared
to be frelh broken: we faw alfo many heaps of allies, and
near them fifh-bones and pieces o f fi(h, befides whole fi(h flattered
here and there, which plainly appeared to have been but a
(hort time out o f the water, as they_were but juft beginning, to
decay.. Thefe were certain indications, that there had been (hips
at this place but a (hort time before we came there; and as all
S 2 Spanifh.