Which Was Not Only An Act Of
Generosity To Our Prisoners, But An Act Of Prudence With Regard To
Ourselves.
The next great point to be managed, was to get our people to
consent to sail so far north
As California, previous to our intended
voyage to the East Indies, for which we were not in so good a condition
as we could wish, though much better than before, and even than we had
any reason to have expected, every thing considered. We had a good ship,
with fifteen guns and sufficient ammunition, together with a reasonable
quantity of provisions; but we still wanted to complete our wood and
water for so long a voyage, the procuring of which was necessarily our
first care. The ship's company were for going to Quibo for this purpose,
as nearest us, but that place was attended by two important
inconveniences. The first was the danger of the road, as the stormy
season was coming on, and we were but indifferently provided with ground
tackle, which must expose us to many dangers. The second was, that Quibo
was but at a small distance from Panama, and we had reason to fear the
Spaniards might send a ship of war from thence in search of us; as we
had now no hopes that peace had taken place, and had consequently laid
aside all thoughts of surrendering. On these considerations, we plied up
to the island of Cano, where we soon did our business, having a good
boat.
[Footnote 278: Betagh charges Shelvocke on this occasion, with the
concealment of a considerable treasure, taken in the Conception, of
which some account will be given at the conclusion of the voyage. - E.]
On our passage to that island, the sweetmeats of all kinds were divided
among our messes; and one day a man complained that he had got a box of
marmalade into which his knife could not penetrate, and desired
therefore to have it changed. On opening it, I found it to contain a
cake of virgin silver, moulded on purpose to fill the box, weighing 200
dollars; and on examining the rest, we found five more of the same kind.
These cakes of silver, being very porous, were nearly of the some weight
with so much marmalade, and were evidently contrived for the purpose of
defrauding the king of Spain of his fifths, which he exacts from all
silver procured in the mines of Peru. We doubtless left many such cakes
behind in the Conception, so that this contrivance served them both to
wrong their king, and to deceive their enemies. A similarly vexatious
affair occurred in a prize taken by the Success, in which there was a
considerable quantity of pinos, or masses of virgin silver, in the
form of bricks, artfully plaistered over with clay, and dried in the
sun. As the Spaniards in Peru never burn their bricks, Clipperton and
his people took these for real bricks, and threw a great number of them
overboard as so much rubbish, and did not discover the deception until
four or five only remained. Every thing taken in the Conception, was
divided according to the articles settled at Juan Fernandez, which gave
me only six shares, instead of sixty; and the people refused to allow me
an hundred pounds, which I had laid out of my own money, for necessary
supplies at the island of St Catharines.
I now found myself under many difficulties as to the course we were to
pursue, because the company knew well enough that there was no necessity
of going farther than the lat. of 13 deg. N. for going to the East Indies. I
had therefore to represent the advantage of cleaning and repairing our
ship at Porto Segnro, in California, and I had much difficulty to
persuade them. I at last brought them to my purpose, when we sailed from
Cano northwards. Having inconstant gales and bad weather, we went
between seventy and eighty leagues out to sea, in hopes of meeting more
settled weather. When at sixty leagues from the land, the winds still
continued variable, but at between seventy and eighty, they settled at
E.N.E. and N.E. at which distance we continued till in lat. 20 deg. N. not
being sensible of any currents in all that distance, and being also
entirely out of the way of the frightful ripplings and overfalls of
water which we used frequently to meet with nearer the land. These used
often to alarm us when becalmed in deep water, hearing a noise as of the
fall of water in passing through a bridge, a considerable time before it
came up to us, and which afterwards passed us at a very great rate. All
the effect this had on the ship, was to make her answer the helm wildly,
if we had any wind; and when we happened to meet any of these moving
waters very near the shore, we could not perceive that we either gained
or lost ground, though we sometimes continued in them for a quarter of
an hour. I have seen these overfalls to come both from the eastward and
the westward. By getting well out to sea, we not only got clear of these
inconveniences, but also were out of the way of the vandevals, or
black season, which had already begun on the coast; for at Cano, and in
going there, we felt very hard gusts, with black rolling water, frequent
and violent thunder and lightning, and heavy showers of rain.
In this passage we were continually accompanied by vast shoals of fish,
as dolphins, bonitas, albicores, and angel-fish. These last are shaped
like salmon, and have scales like them, but have tails like dolphins,
and nearly resemble them when, in the water, appearing in all the
beautiful colours displayed by the dolphin. Besides, they are the best
for eating of any fish that swim near the surface. We were continually
pestered with flocks of the birds called boobies, and their intolerably
stinking dung proved an indescribable nuisance, in spite of all the
pains that could be taken to clean our decks, yards, and tops.
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