They Dismissed Some Of Their Spanish Prisoners On The 3d August,
On Which Day They Passed Between The Main And The Island Of Lobos, So
Called From Being Frequented By Seals, Or Sea Wolves.[97] The 8th They
Cast Anchor Near Payta, In About The Latitude Of 5 Deg.
S. The 9th they
landed 300 men, but re-embarked after some skirmishing, as they found
the city too strongly defended.
On this occasion they took a Peruvian
bark, strangely rigged, having six stout natives on board, who had been
out fishing for two months, and had a cargo of excellent dried fish,
which was distributed through the fleet.
[Footnote 97: There are three islands or groups of that name off the
coast of Peru. The southern Lobos is in lat. 7 deg. S. near fifty miles from
the nearest land; the middle, or inner Lobos, in lat. 6 deg. 22' S. is only
about nine miles from the coast of Peru; and the northern Lobos is in
lat. 5 deg. 8' S. almost close to the shore. It is probably the middle or
inner Lobos that is meant in the text. - E.]
The 10th of August three of the Dutch ships battered the town of Payta,
and afterwards sent a party of armed men on shore, who found the
inhabitants had fled to the mountains with all their valuables. The
Dutch sent five of the Peruvian captives on shore to endeavour to
procure fruit, and to learn with more certainty what had become of the
Spanish admiral. On their return they brought word that the Spanish
admiral had gone to the bottom, six only of her crew escaping. They
brought letters also from the lady of Don Gasper Calderon, the
commandant of Payta, who had fled to the town of St Michael, thirty
miles from Payta; who, in commiseration of the captives, sent many
citrons and other provisions to the Dutch ships. Towards the sea the
town of Payta is strongly fortified, and almost impregnable. It is a
place of some importance, having two churches, a monastery, and many
good buildings; and has an excellent harbour, to which many ships resort
from Panama, whence their cargoes are transmitted by land to Lima, to
avoid the dangers of the wind and the seas at that place. While at the
island of Lobos, the Dutch took two birds of enormous size, not unlike
an eagle in beak, wings, and talons; their necks being covered with down
resembling wool, and their heads having combs like those of a cock. They
were two ells in height, and their wings, when displayed, measured three
ells in breadth.[98]
[Footnote 98: Probably the Condour, or Vultur Gryphus of naturalists,
which is of vast size, sometimes measuring sixteen feet between the tips
of the wings when extended.
At this place we have omitted a vague rambling account of the kingdoms
of Peru and Chili, as in 1616, which could have conveyed no useful
information, farther than that Don Juan de Mendoza, Marquis des Montes
Claros, was then viceroy of Peru.
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