By The Help Of A Flint, He Had Converted His Knife Into A Saw,
With Which He Had Cut The Barrel Of His Gun To Pieces, Which He
Fashioned Into Harpoons, Lances, Fishing-Hooks, And A Long Knife, By
Heating Them In A Fire.
All this cost him much labour, but enabled him
to live in sufficient comfort.
On seeing the ships at sea, he guessed
them to be English, and immediately dressed two goats, and a large
quantity of cabbage, to entertain them on landing. He was also much
pleased, when they landed on the island, to see two of his old
acquaintances, Captains Cooke and Dampier, who had belonged to the ship
by which he was left on the island.
The island of Juan Fernandez is in lat. 34 deg. 15' S. [33 deg. 42'] about 420
English miles from the coast of Chili. The whole island is a pleasant
mixture of hills and vallies, the sides of the hills partly covered with
wood, and partly savannas, or places naturally clear of wood, bearing
fine grass. Among the woods are what are called cabbage-trees, but not
so large as in other parts of the world. The goats which feed on the
west end of the island are much fatter and better than those at the east
end, though the latter has better and greater plenty of grass, with
abundance of excellent water in the vallies, while the west end is a dry
plain, the grass scanty and parched, and has hardly any wood or fresh
water. Though fertile, this island has no inhabitants, who might live
here in plenty, as the plain is able to maintain a great number of
cattle, and the sea affords vast quantities of seals, sea-lions,
snappers, and rock-fish. The sea-lions are not much unlike seals, but
much larger, being twelve or fourteen feet long, and as thick as a large
ox. They have no hair, and are of a dun colour, with large eyes, their
teeth being three inches long. One of these animals will yield a
considerable quantity of oil, which is sweet and answers well for
frying. They feed on fish, yet their flesh is tolerably good. The
snapper is a fish having a large head, mouth, and gills, the back red,
the belly ash-coloured, and its general appearance resembling a roach,
but much larger, its scales being as broad as a shilling. The rock-fish,
called baccalao by the Spaniards, because resembling the cod, is
rounder than the former, and of a dark-brown colour, with small scales,
and is very good food, being found in vast abundance on the coasts of
Peru and Chili. This island has only two bays fit for anchorage, with a
rivulet of fresh water in each, and both at the east end, and so
conveniently situated that they might easily be fortified, and defended
by a slender force against a powerful army, being inaccessible from the
west, by reason of the high mountains. Five Englishmen, left by Captain
Davies, secured themselves here against a great number of Spaniards.
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. As they feed on fish,
they are but indifferent eating, but their eggs are very good. Penguins
are found all over the South Sea, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The road
for ships is between the before-mentioned rock and the eastmost island.
They were now very eager to make some capture, as their provisions,
especially water, were very scanty, so that the subsistence of their
prisoners, as well as themselves, gave them much anxiety. By information
of their prisoners, they were also convinced that their being in these
seas was known to the Spaniards, who consequently would keep all their
richest ships in port. After much consultation, therefore, it was
resolved to make an attempt on Truxillo, in lat. 8 deg. 4' S. a populous
city about six miles from the port of Guanehagno, though the
landing-place was of difficult access, as at that place there was a
strong probability of making a considerable booty. They sailed therefore
with this design on the 18th May, their whole number of men fit for duty
being one hundred and eight.
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