i 38 L O U D A N S O N ' S V Q Y A G E
Spanijh Merchant-men are inftrU&ed to avpid the Ifland, on account
p f jts being the common rendezvous o f their enemies, we
concluded thofe who ba4 touched here to be (hips o f force; and,
not knowing that Pizarro vyas returned to Bvetfot -Ayres, and igno- ’
rant vybat ftrength might have been fitted out at Callao, wo were
under fome concern for our fafety, being in fo wretched and enfeebled
a condition, that, potwithftanding the ranb of our Ihip, and
the fixty guns the carried on board, which would only haye aggra- «
vated our difhonour, there was fcarcely a privateer fenp to fea that
was not an over-match for us. Ffoyvever, our fears, on thj? fes?dt -
proved imaginary ; and we were not expo.fed to the difgrace which,
might have been expefted to have befallen us, had we bpen neceft.
fitated (as we muft have been, had the enemy appeared) to fight
our fixty-gun ihip with up more than thirty hands.
Whilft the cleaning our Ihip and the filling our water went on,
We fet up a large copper-oven on fcpre, near the lick tents, in
which we baked bread every day for the fhip’s company; for, bemg
extremely defirous of recovering our fick as (pot) a? pp,fiib.ft, WP
conceived that new bread, added to their greens and frejh fi(h,
might provp a powerful article in their relief. Indeed, we had all
imaginable reafon to endeavour at the augmenting our prefent
ftrepgth, as every little accident, which to a full prsw would bp
iofignificant, was extremely alarming in our prefent helplefs fituq*
tion: of this we had a troublefome infiance on thjs 30th o f Jurip ;
for, at five in the morning, we were, aitoiiiihcd by a violent gu fl of
wind direflly off Ihore, which inftantly parted our ftpall bower- .
cable, about ten fathom from the ring o f the anchor: the Ihip at
once fveung off to the beft bower, which happily Hood the violence
of the jerk, and brought us up with two cah% an end, in eighty
fathom. At this time we had not above a dozen feamen in the Ihip ;
and we were apprehenfive, if the fquall continued, that we Ihpu.ld
be driven to fea in this wretched condition. However, we Cent
the boat on Ihore, to bring off all who were capable °* a^ ng »
and the wind, foon abating of its fury, gave qs an qpportunity o f
receiving
receiving the boat hack again with a reinforcement. With this
additional ftrength we immediately went to work, to heave-in what
remained of the cable, which we fufpefted had received fome damage
from the foulnefs o f the ground before it parted; and, agreeably
to our conjecture, we found'that feven fathom and a half of
the outer end had been rubbed, and rendered unfervieeable. In
the afternoon, we bent the cable to the fpare anchor, and got it
over the (hip’ s fide ; and the next morning, July 1, being favoured
with the wind in gentle breezes, we warped the (hip in again, and
let go the anchor in forty-one fathom; the eaftermoft point now
bearing from u sE . f S ; the weftermoft N. W . by W ; and the
1 “ uefore s. S. W ; a fituation in which we remained fecurer
f j ' t h e future! However, we were much concerned for the loft,
of our anchor, and fwept frequently for it, m hopes to have recovered
i t ; but the buoy having funk at the very inftant that the
cable parted, we were never able to find it. 1
And now, as we advanced in July, feme o f our men being tolerably
recovered, the ftrongeft of them were put upon cutting,
down trees, and fplitting them info billets ; while others, vyho were-
too weak for- this employ, undertook to carry the billets by one at
a time to the water-fide: this they performed, fome of them with
the help of crutches, and others fiipported by a fingle ftick. W e
next ftnt the forge on (hore, and employed our fmiths, who were
hut juft capable o f working, in mending our chain-plates, and our
other broken and decayed iron work. We began too the gggg
o f our rigging ; but, as we had not junk enough to make (pun-
yam" we deferred the general over-hale, in hopes of the daily arrival*
of the Glouceficr, who, we knew, had a, great quantity of
junk on board. However, that we might difpatch as faft as pof-
fible I our refitting, we fet up a large tent on the beach for the
fail-makers ; and they were, immediately .employed in repairing
onr old fails, and making us new opes,_ Theft occupations, with
our cleanfing a.nd watering the (hip (which was by this time pretty
w e ll comuleated’), the attendance on our fick, and the frequent