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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 823 of 825
Words from 224012 to 224278
of 224764
