After Remaining Fourteen Days At This Island, They Left It On The 8th
April, 1684, Steering N.N.E. Till
Off the bay of Arica, whence they
sailed to Cape Blanco, in hopes of meeting the Spanish Plate fleet from
Panama; but if they had gone into the bay of Arica, they must have taken
a Spanish ship which lay there, having 300 tons of silver on board. In
lat. 10 deg. S. on the 3d May, they were forced to capture a ship laden with
timber, much against their inclination, lest they should be known
through her means to be on the coast. They then sailed to the southern
island of Lobos, in lat. 70 deg. S. about forty-three English miles from
the coast of Peru, where they landed their sick for refreshment, heeled
their ships, and scraped their bottoms, to render them fitter for
action.
This island is named Lobos del Mar, to distinguish it from another
which is nearer the continent, and called therefore Lobos de la Tierra.
Lobos del Mar is properly a double island, each a mile in circuit,
separated by a small channel which will not admit ships of burden. A
little way from shore, on the north side, there are several scattered
rocks in the sea, and at the west end of the eastermost isle is a small
sandy creek, in which ships are secure from the winds, all the rest of
the shore being rocky cliffs. The whole of both islands is rocky and
sandy, having neither wood, water, nor land animals; but it has many
fowls, such as boobies, and above all penguins, about the size of a
duck, and with similar feet; but their bills are pointed, their wings
are mere stumps, which serve them as fins when in the water, and their
bodies are covered with down instead of feathers.
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