day of nioft fevere fatigué tó us alt ; for it mutt fee fëriiêmbërêtf,
that in thcfe exigencies no rank or office exempted any peribfi from
the manual application and Bodily labour Of a t'ôfaüîofi fäils'r. ït r è
büfînefs óf this day was' no lets than an éndêavó'ür fd h'ëâve un the'
fheét-anchor', which wë Md hitherto dragged'àt dur hows' With tWö
cables an end. This was â work Of gréât importance fô ôür füturë
prëférvâtion : For, nôt fo mention the impediment it woilîd be' to"
Out navigation, and hazard to our £hip, i f we attempted to make
fail with the anchor in its prefent fituation, wë häd this nioft in-
terefting confidefation to animate us, that it was the only anchor
we had left; and, without fecuring it, we fhould Bë tinder the
ütmoft difficulties and hazards, whenever we fell in with thé land
again ; and therefore, being all of us fully apprized of thè confér
e n c e Of this ëntërprizë, we laboured at it with the fevered ap-<
plication for füll twelve hours, when we had indeed made a cOiiit-
defable progrefs, having brought the anchor in fight ; Bùt It glowing
dark, and we being exceffively fatigued, we were' obliged fo
defift, and to leave our work unfinithed fill the next morning, and
then, refrethed by the benefit of a night’s reft, we compleaféd it,
and hung the anchor at our bow.
It was the 27th o f September, that is, five days after our departure,
before we had thus fecnred our anchor : However, we, the'
fame day, got up our main-yard ; fo that, having now conquered
in fóme degree, the diftrefs and diforder which we were neceflarily
involved in at our firft driving out to fea, and being enabled to
make ufe of our canvas, we fet our courfes, and for the firft time
flood to the eaftward, in hopes of regaining the Iiland ó f Tinian,
and joining our Commodore in a few days ; fince, by our accounts
we were only forty-feven leagues diftant to the South-Weft.
Hence, on thé firft day of OBober, having then run the diftance
tieceflary for making the Iiland, according to our reckoning, we
iVere in full expectation of feeing it : But here we were unhappily
difappointed, and were thereby convinced, that a current had
driven us confiderably to the weftward. This difcovery threw us
1 into
into a new perplexity; for, as we could not judge how much we
might hereby have deviated, and confequently how long we might
ftill expeCt to be at fea,- We had gfeat- apprèhenfions that our ftock
of water would prove deficient; fince we were doubtful about the
quantity we ha-d Oft board, finding many óf our calks fo decayed,
as to be half leaked Out. However,- we Were delivered from our
uncertainty the next day, having then a fight of the Iiland of
Guam, and hence we computed that the currents had driven us
forty-four leagues to the weftward of our accounts. Being now
fatisfied of our fituation, by this fight of land, we kept' plying to
the eaftward, though with exceffivê labour; fof, the wind continuing
fixed in the eaftern board, we Were obliged to tack often, and
our crew Was fo Weak, that without the affiftance of every man
on board, it was not in our power to put the fhip about. This
fevere employment lafted till the 1 11h of Obiober, being the nineteenth
day from Our departure when, arriving in the offing of
Titiiati, We were reinforced from the fhore, as hath been already
related; and on the evening of the fame day, we, to our inex-
preffiblè joy, came to an anchor in the road; thereby procuring
to our fhipmates on fh'ore, as well as to oürfèlves, a cefiation from
the fatigues and apprehenfions, which this difaftrous incident had
given rife to.
C H A P .