At Eleven In The Forenoon Of The 30th They Carried Out The Remains Of Their Best Bower-Cable, With Two Lower-Deck Guns, Which They Dropped Right A-Head In Five Fathoms Water.

They now cleared the hold, ready to start their water to lighten the ship; got their upper and lower-

Deck guns forwards, to bring her by the head as she hung abaft on the rocks, and kept two guns constantly firing from the stern-ports at the enemy's battery, but could not get them to bear. During the last twenty-four hours they had fortunately only one man wounded; but the ship was wretchedly injured between wind and water, and her rigging torn to pieces.

At six in the afternoon of the 30th the ship floated, when they cut away their yawl, having been sunk by a shot. They hove taught their cable, and then cut it away, together with the two hawsers, and sent the pinnace a-head to tow the ship off. Just as the ship got afloat, the enemy fired with great briskness from their new battery, their shot raking through the Success between wind and water, killed one of her men, and wounded two others.

The Success had now remained fifty hours as a fair mark for the enemy to fire at, during which they lost both their bower-anchors and cables, with the stern and kedge-anchors, four hawsers, four lower-deck guns, nineteen barrels of powder, two men killed and six wounded; and had they not now got off, it was believed they must have been sunk before morning. At ten in the forenoon of the 31st they hove to, and began to splice their rigging, not a rope of which had escaped the shot of the enemy. The masts and yards were all sore wounded; and the carpenters had to work during the whole night, stopping-the shot-holes in the hull. They stowed away most of their guns in the hold, barred up the ports, hoisted in the launch and pinnace, and at noon steered away west under an easy sail, hoping to save their passage before the western monsoon set in; the carpenters being fully occupied in fishing the masts and yards, and the rest of the crew in mending the rigging. At six in the evening of the 31st May, 1721, the body of the island of Guam bore E. seven leagues distant, and they then took their departure; being in 15 deg. 20' N. designing now for China.

The conduct of Captain Clipperton at Guam was certainly exceedingly erroneous. He ought on no account to have permitted the marquis to go on shore till he had received the money for his ransom, and all the provisions of which he stood in need. The marquis had before behaved very ill to him, and had no title to any favour; and if he had kept the marquis, the governor of Guam would not have had any opportunity of putting his schemes in execution.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 354 of 431
Words from 184328 to 184832 of 224764