The Captain Offered 16,000 Dollars For Her Ransom, But I Could Not
Comply, As The Recovery Was Disabled In
Her masts in boarding, and also
we had now a vessel in which we could at least enjoy cleanliness, which
We had been entire strangers to ever since our departure from Juan
Fernandez; wherefore we made all dispatch in getting every thing out of
the bark. The Spanish captain of the Jesu Maria informed me, that the
Margaretta had arrived some time before at Calao, where she had given a
full account of her rencounter with us; her captain and three men having
been killed in the action, and a priest with several others wounded. She
was now ready to put to sea again to cruize for us, with the addition of
ten guns and fifty men. A frigate of twenty-eight guns, called the
Flying-fish, was already out with the same intention; and advice had
been sent respecting us along the coast, both to the north and south,
with orders to equip what strength there was to catch us. All night, the
people of Pisco were on the alert, continually firing guns, to give us
an earnest of what we were to expect if we attempted to land, but we had
no such intention.
Having cleared our bark next morning, we gave her to the Spanish captain
of the Jesu Maria; and as soon as the breeze sprung up, we weighed and
stood to sea. While going out, we met our own boat with the two men who
had deserted us, and who now edged down upon us, imagining we had been
Spaniards.
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