146 C A P T A I N W A -L L IS ’ s V O Y A G E
1.766. On the next day, at fix in the morning, the ifle of'May bore
<_Lv— j from W.:toffi.W. fix leagues; and foo® after thd Swallow
Wednef, 24. agajn joined, company. At lialf an hour after io the weft-
end of the ifle of May bore north at the'diftanee o f fire miles1,
and we found a current here, fettingto the fouthward at the'
rate of twenty nailesin fomiandttwferity hours. The'latitude1
of this ifland is 15? to 'N .' longitude aa* 3_jfW.
At noon the fouth-end o f the ifland St. Iago bore S. W. by
W. diftant four leagues; and the north-end N. W. diftarit five
leagues. At h a lf an hour after three we anchored irt Port’
Praya, in that ifland, in company with the Swallow and
Prince Frederick, in eight fathom water, upon fandy ground.
We had much raimand lightning in the night, and early in
Thurfday 25, the morning I fent to the commanding-officer at the fort, for
leave to get off fome water, and other refrefhmenis, which
lie granted.
We foon learnt that this was the fickly feafon, and that
the rains were fo great as to render it extremely difficult to
get any thing down from the donntry to the ffiips: it happened
alfo, unfortunately, that the fmall-pox, which is extremely
fatal here, was at this time epidemic; fo that I permitted
no man to go affiore who had not had that diftemper,
and I would not fuffer even thofe that had to go into any
houfe;
We procured, however, a fupply o f water andfome cattle
from the ffior'e, and caught abundance o f fifli with the feine,
which was hauled twice every day: we found alfo in the
valley where we got our water, a kind of large pufflain,
growing wild in amazing quantities: this-was a moft welcome
refrelhment both raw as a fallad, and boiled with the
5 broth
broth and peafe; and when we left the place we carried 1766.
away enough o f it to,ferve uS a week. - September.,
On the 28th, at half an hour after' twelve we weighed and Sunday 28.
put to fe a ; at half an hour after fix in the evening the peak
of Fuego, bore ;W. N, W. diftant 12 leagues, and in the night
the burning mountain was very vilible.
This day I ordered' hooks arid lines to be ferved to all the
Ihip’s company, that they might catch fiffi for themfelves-;
but at the fame time I alfo ordered that no man Ihould keep
his filh more than four and twenty hours before it- was eaten,
for I had dbfefved that ftale, hnd even dried fiffi, had made
the people fiekly, and tainted the air in the ffiip.
On the firft o f Offober, in lat. 10' 37' N. we loft the true ottoi»:
trade-wind, and had only light and variable gales,- and this w'dMr-
day w e found that the ffiip was fet twelve miles to. the northward
by a current ; on the third we found a current run S. Friday 3.
by E. at the rate o f fix fathom an hour, or about twenty
miles and a half a d a y : on the feventh we found the fliip TlK,H 7
19 miles to the fouthward o f her reckoning..
On the 20th, our butter and cheefe being all expended, w e Monday zo.
began to ferve the fhip’s company w ith oil, and I gave orders
that they ffiould alfo be ferved with muftard and vinegar
once a fortnight during the reft o f the voyage.
On the 3 2d we faw an incredible number o f ‘ birds, and Wedn f
among the reft a man o f war bird, which inclined us to
think that fome land was not more than 60 leagues diftant:
this day we croffed the equator in longitude 230 40' \V.
- On the 24th I ordered the fliip’s company to be ferved with Friday 24.
brandy, and referved the wine for the lick and convalefcent*
On the 26th the Prince Frederick made fignals o f diftrefs, Sunday 2e.
upon which we bore down to her, and found that ffie had
U a carried