efcaped the general destruction. Its foil is a kind of white
marl, which yet retains its vegetative qualities, and pro-
duceth a kind of purflain, fpurg, and one or two grades. On
thefe the goats fubfift, and it is at this part of the ifle where
they are to be found, as alfo land-crabs, which are faid to be
very good.
I was. told, that about this: part of the ifle is fome very
good land on which might be raifed many necefiary articles,
and fome have been at the trouble of fowing turnips and
other ufeful vegetables, I was alfo told there is a fine fpring
in a valley which disjoins two hills on the top of the mountain
above-mentioned» befides great quantities of frefh
water in holes .in the rocks, which the perfon who gave me
this information, believed was collected from rains. But
thefe fupplies of water can only be of ufe to the, traveller ■,
or to thofe who may' be fo unfortunate as to be fhip-
wrccked on the ifland ; which feems to have been the fate
o f fome not long ago, as appeared by the remains of a.
wreck we found on th.e N. E. fide. By what we could judge,
Ihe feemed to have been a veflel of about one hundred and;
fifty tons burthen.
While we lay in the road, a Hoop of about feventy ton&
burthen came to an anchor by us. She belonged to New
York, which place fhe left in February, and having been to
the Coaft of Guinea with a cargo of goods, was come here to
take in turtle to carry to Barbadoes. This was the ftory which
the mailer, whofe name was Greves, was pleafed to tell, and
which may, in part, be true. But I believe the chief view of
hi? coming here, was the expectation of meeting with fome
of the India fhips. He had been in the ifland near a week,
and had got on board twenty turtle. A floop, belonging to
Ber-
Bermuda, had failed but a few days before with one hundred w?5-
and five on board, which was as many as ihe could take in ; 1---- -—
but having turned feveral more on the different fandy ' M ’ 3
beaches, they had ripped open their bellies, taken out the
eggs, and left the carcafles to putrify ; an a d as inhuman as
injurious to thofe who came after them. Part of the account
I have given of the interior parts of this ifland I received'
from Captain Greves, who feemed to be a fenfible intelligent
man, and had been all over it. He failed in the morning of
the fame day we did.
Turtle, I am told, are to be found at this iile from January to
June. The method of catching them is to have people upon the
feveral fandy bays, to watch their coming on fhore to lay their
eggs, which is always in the night, and then to turn them
on their backs, till there be an opportunity to take them off
the next day. It was recommended to us to fend a good
many men to each beach, where they were to lie quiet till
the turtle were alhore, and then rife and turn them at once.
This method may be the belt when the turtle are numerous;
but when there are but few, three or four men are fuflicient
for the largeft beach ; and if they keep patroling it, clofe to
the wafli of the furf, during the night, by this method they
will fee all that come a-fhore, and caufe lefs noife than if
there were more of them. It was by this method we caught
the moll we got; and this is the method by which the Americans
take them. Nothing is more, certain, than that all the
turtle which are found about this ifland, come here for the
foie purpofe of laying their eggs ; for we meet with none
but females ; and of all thofe which we caught, not one had
any food worth mentioning in its ftomach; a litre fig.n, in
my opinion, that they mult have been a long time without
N n 2 an y ;