This Sound Is A Mile Long And Half A
Mile Wide, And Has From Ten To Twelve Fathoms On Good Ground.
The only
entrance for ships is to leeward of the islands.
We went in with a small
weather tide, but I could never observe it to flow above three feet
while we were there. On the eastermost island there is a round hummock,
behind which is a small cove, very smooth, deep, and convenient enough
for careening a ship; we here hauled up and fitted our prize, which we
named the Beginning. The highest part of the island of Lobos, as seen
from the road, did not seem much higher than the top-mast head of a
large ship. The soil is a hungry white clayish earth, mixed with sand
and rocks; and there is no fresh water, nor any green thing to be seen
on either of the islands. They are frequented by many vultures or
carrion crows, and looked so like turkeys that one of our officers was
rejoiced at the sight, expecting to fare sumptuously, and would not wait
till the boat could put him ashore, but leapt into the water with his
gun, and let fly at a parcel of them; but, when he came to take up his
game, it stunk most abominably, and made us merry at his expence. The
other birds here are pelicans, penguins, boobies, gulls, and one
resembling teal, which nestle in holes under ground. Our men got great
numbers of these birds, which they said were good meat after being
skinned.
We found abundance of bulrushes and empty jars, which the Spanish
fishers had left on shore; for all over this western coast of America,
they use earthen jars instead of casks, for containing oil, wine, and
all other liquids. There are here abundance of sea-lions and seals, the
latter being much larger than those we saw at Juan Fernandez, but their
fur not so fine. Our people killed several of these, on purpose to eat
their livers; but a Spaniard on board died suddenly after eating them,
and I forbade their use, and we learnt also from our prisoners that the
old seals are very unwholesome. The wind commonly blows here fresh from
the south, veering to the east, and coming over the land to where we
lay, brought with it a most noisome smell from the seals on shore, which
gave me a violent headach, and offended every one else extremely. We
found nothing so offensive at Juan Fernandez.
Our prisoners told as, that the widow of the late viceroy of Peru was
soon expected to embark in a Spanish man of war of thirty-six guns for
Acapulco, with her family and riches; on which voyage she would either
stop at Payta for refreshments, or pass in sight of that place, as is
customary. They said also that about eight months before, a ship had
passed Payta for Acapulco, loaded with flour and liquors, and having
200,000 dollars on board.
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