diftauce from it, as long'as their ftore o f wood and water would
permit, both which they were to expend with the utmoft frugality.
And, when they were under an abfolute neceflity o f afrefh fupply,
they were to ftand in, and endeavour to find out an anchoring-
place ; and in cafe they could not, and the weather made it dangerous
to fupply their fhips by Handing off and on, they were t-hen
to make the beft o f their way to the Ifland of Juan Fernandes, in
the latitude o f 33°: 37' South. At this Ifland, as foon as they had
recruited their wood and water, they were to continue cruizing off
the anchoring-place for fifty-fix days; in which time, i f they
were not joined by the Commodore, they might conclude that
fome accident had befallen him ; and they were forthwith to put
themfelves under the command of the fenior Officer, who was to
ufe his utmoft endeavours to annoy the enemy both by fea -and
land. With thefe views their new Commodore was to continue
in thofe feas as long as his provifions hfted, or as long as they
were recruited by what he fhould take from the enemy, referving
only a fufficient quantity to carry him and the fhips under his
command to Macao, at the entrance of the river of Canton, on the
coaft of China; where havingiupplied himfelf with a new flock
of provifions, he was thence, without delay, to make the beft o f
his way to England. And .as it was found impoffible, as yet, to
unload our Vidtualer the Anna Pink, the. Commodore gave the
Matter of her the fame rendezvous, and the fame orders to put
himfelf under the command of the remaining fenior Officer.
Under thefe orders the fquadron failed from St, Catherine's on
Sundaytbe 18th of Jamary, as hath been already mentioned in
the preceding chapter. The next day we had very fquallywea-.
ther, attended with rain, lightning, and thunder ; but it foon became
fair again,, with light breezes, and continued thus till WedneJ-
day evening, when it blew frefh again ; and, increafing all night,
by eight the next morning it became a moft violent ftorm; and
we had with it fo thick a fog, that it was impoflible to fee at the
diftauce o£ two fhips length, fo that the whole fquadron difap-
a peared.
peared. On this a fignal was made, by firing guns, to bring-to
with the larboard tacks, the wind «being then due Eaft. We our-
felves immediately handed the top-fails, bunted the main-fail, and
lay-to under a reefed mizen till noon, when the fog difperfed, and
we foon difcovered all the fhips of the fquadron, except the Pearl,
who did not join us till near a month afterwards. Indeed the Tryal
Sloop was a great way to leeward, having loft her main-maft in the
fquall, and having been obliged, for fear o f bilging, to cut away the
raft. We therefore bore down with the fquadron to her relief, and
the GloUcefter was ordered to take her in tow ; for the-weather did
not intirely abate till the day after; and even then a great fwell continued
from the eaftward, in confequence of the preceding ftorm.
After this accident, we flood to the fouthward with little interruption
; and here we experienced the fame fetting of the current
which we had obferved before our arrival at St. Catherine's ; that is,
we generally found ourfelves to the fouthward of our reckoning,
by about twenty miles each day. This deviation, with a little inequality,
lafted till we had paffed the latitude of the river o f Plate ;
and even then we difcovered that the fame current, however difficult
to be accounted for, did yet undoubtedly take place; for we were
not fatisfied in deducing it from the error in our reckoning, but we
aflually tried it more than once, when a calm made it praaicable.
As foon as we had paffed the latitude of the river of Plate, we
had foundings, which continued all along the coaft of Patagonia.
Thefe foundings, when well afcertained, being of great ufe in
determining the pofitiou of the fhip, and we having tried them
more frequently, and in greater depths, and with more attention,
than, I believe, hath been done before u s ; I fhall recite our obfer-
vations as fuccinGly as I can, referring to the chart hereafter in-
ferted in the ninth chapter o f this book, for a general view of the
whole. In the latitude o f 36°:. 52', we had fixty fathom of water,
with a bottom of fine black and grey fand: from thence to
39° • 55/> we varied.our depths from fifty to eighty fathom,
though we had conftantly the fame bottom as before; between
I 2 ‘ the