the country did by no means refemble that of an uninhabited and
uncultivated place ; but had much more the air of a magnificent
plantation, where large lawns and ftately woods had been laid out
together with great Ikill, and where the whole had been fo artfully
combined, and fo judicioully adapted to the Hopes of the hills, and
the inequalities of the ground, as to produce a moll: linking effect,
and to do. honour to the invention o f the contriver. Thus, (an
event not unlike what we had already feen) we were forced upon
the moft defirable and falutary meafures by accidents, which at
firft fight we confidered as the greateft of misfortunes ; for had
we not been driven by the contrary winds and currents to the
northward of our courfe, (a circumftance, which at that time gave
us the moft terrible apprehenfions) we Ihould, in all probability,
never have arrived at this delightful Illand, and confequently we
Ihould have miffed of that place, where alone all our wants could
be moft amply relieved, our fick recovered, and our enfeebled
crew once more refrelhed, and enabled to put again to fea.
The Spanijh Serjeant, from whom we received the account of,
the Illand, having informed us that there were fome Indians on
Ihore under his command, employed in jerking beef, and that
there was a bark at anchor to take it on board ; we were defirous, i f
poflible, to prevent the Indians from efcaping, fince they would certainly
have given the Governor of Guam intelligence of our arrival,
we therefore immediately difcharged the Pinnace to fecure the bark,
as the Serjeant told us that was the only imbarkation on the placé;
and then, about eight in the evening, we let go our anchor in
twenty-two fathom. But though it was almoft calm, and whatever
vigour and fpirit was to be found on board was doubtlefs exerted to
the utmoft on this pleafing occafion, when, after having kept the
fea for fome months, we were going to take poffeffion of this little
paradife ; yet we were full five hours in furling our fails. It is true,
we were fomewhat weakened by the crews of the Cutter and Pinnace
which were fent on Ihore ; but it is not lefs true, that, including
thofe abfent with the boats and fome Negroe and Indian pri-
foners, all the hands we could mufter capable of Handing at a gun
amounted
amounted to no more than feventy-one, moft o f whom too were
incapable of duty, except on the greateft emergencies. This, in-
confiderable as it may appear, was the whole force we could collect,
in our prefent enfeebled condition, from the united crews o f
the Centurion, the Glo'ueefter, and the Trial, which, when we departed
from England, confided all together of near a thoufand hands.
When we had furled our fails, our people were allowed to re-
pofe themfelves during the remainder of the night, to recover them
from the fatigue they had undergone. But in the morning a party
was lent on ihore well armed, o f which I myielf was one, to make
ourfelves mailers of the landing place, fince we were not certain
what oppofition might be made by the Indians on the Illand: We
landed however, without difficulty; for the Indians having perceived,
by our feizure o f the bark the night before, that we were
enemies, they immediately fled into the woody parts o f the Illand.
We found on ihore many huts which they had inhabited, and
which faved us both the time and trouble o f erefting tents ; one of
thefe huts which the Indians madeufe of for a ftore-houfe was very
large, being twenty yards long and fifteen broad: This we immediately
cleared of fome bales of jerked beef, which had been left
in it, and converted it into an holpital for our fick, who as ioon as
the place was ready to receive them were brought on ihore, being
in all a hundred and twenty-eight. Numbers of thefe were fo very
helplefs, that we were obliged to carry them from the boats to the
hofpital upon our ihoulders, in which humane employment (as
before at Juan Fernandes) the Commodore himfelf, and every one
of his officers, were engaged without diftindtion, and notwith-
ftanding the extreme debility and the dying afpedts of the greateft
part of our fick, it is almoft incredible how foon they began to feel
the falutary influence of the land : For though we buried twenty-
one men on this and the preceding day, yet we did not lofe above
ten men more during the whole two months we ftaid here: But
Our difeafed in general reaped fo much benefit from the fruits of
the Illand, particularly thofe of the acid kind, that in a week’s
time, there were but few of them who were not fo far recovered
as to be able to move about without help.
R r 2 Being