On Sunday the 13th he came to an anchor in Port Praya, St. Iago, where
the Governor received him with much politeness and gave him permission to
replenish his ship.
While in this port Grant discovered that the second
mate had sown seeds of discontent among his crew, so he promptly handed
him over to the Governor to be sent back to England. Two boys, however,
deserted and ran off with a boat. Several parties were sent out in search
of them by the Governor, and the two deserters were eventually caught and
brought home by the natives - both riding on one ass. The sight of the
bluejackets in such a predicament vastly amused the Portuguese seamen in
port, who ridiculed them to such an extent that Grant did not think it
necessary to punish them further. Grant describes the natives of Port
Praya as resembling negroes, and remarks that the females seemed to spend
their time in spinning cotton from a distaff with a spindle. The ship's
keels were examined here and one found to be broken, but the repairs,
owing to the assistance given by the Governor, were finished in two days.
Having taken in a sufficient supply of water, the Lady Nelson left St.
Iago on April 27th. The Governor, who seems to have been most polite and
obliging to everybody, permitted two Portuguese sailors to be entered on
her muster-roll, which brought her crew up to twelve. Soon after leaving
port, one of the seamen became ill, and as his temperature rose very high
the commander gave orders for him to be immediately isolated, though he
was fortunately cured in four days. The food served to the men then
underwent some alteration. It was thought that oatmeal was too heating in
the humid weather of the tropics, and tea was substituted for it at
breakfast, wine supplemented with spruce beer being issued instead of
spirits. Not one man fell sick afterwards.
As the ship neared the Equator various cross-currents were frequently met
with, and "heavy squalls with rain" and a very disagreeable sea arose,
the result of a sudden change of wind from north-north-east to south-west
and south-south-west. The Lady Nelson pitched and rolled considerably,
and nearly every one on board was sea-sick. On the 6th it fell calm
again.
At 6 A.M. on the 9th a schooner was sighted, and shortly afterward a
brig, which stood towards the ship. Believing that the latter was an
enemy, Grant was glad when a storm hid her from view. On the 10th,
however, a glimpse of the brig was again caught, and on the 13th two more
sail were descried standing to the westward, but they finally
disappeared. The Lady Nelson was now surrounded by flying-fish and
tropical birds in great numbers, the latter being of the species
mentioned by Captain Cook as seen by him when he traversed this route.
On May 16th a long, heavy swell was experienced with light airs, and the
sea took a luminous appearance. A spell of bad weather followed, ending
on the 23rd, when, the day being fine, the boats were lowered and the
keels overhauled and repaired, and it was then found that a new piece of
wood which had been put on the after keel at Port Praya was missing. Not
having sufficient timber on board to repair it as before, the keel was
let farther down in the well and a breadth of planking was joined to it
with iron hooping and nails, with the result that it extended three feet
below the vessel.
On the 28th, when nearing Rio de Janeiro, an inspection was made of the
bread and water, and as the latter was found to be in good condition
Grant decided not to enter the port. Some of the bread was a little
damaged by leakage into the bread room, but a more water-tight place for
storing it was soon found. About the same date birds were again observed,
particularly the hoglet: the men caught many of these and made caps of
their skins. Mother Cary's chickens* (* Procellaria pelagica Linn.) were
also met with in great numbers. Gales and calms now alternated until June
11th, when there were frequent squalls, the wind finally blowing with
such violence that at 3 P.M. it was thought advisable to heave to. Later
the storm abated, and the vessel was able to make good progress until the
18th. A curious sea followed the ship on this day, the waves rising
perpendicularly, so that the commander conjectured that there was ground
at no great depth. He put the deep-sea lead over, but no soundings could
be obtained.
On the 23rd at 3 P.M. a vessel was seen bearing down before the wind
towards the Lady Nelson. The stranger proved to be a Spanish brig
carrying prize colours. She had been captured in the River Plate by a
privateer which had been fitted out by a merchant at the Cape of Good
Hope, and was commanded by Mr. John Black. She was then on her way to the
Cape of Good Hope. On coming within hail her master informed the Lady
Nelson's commander that he had neither book nor chart on board, and
wished to know where he was; he also begged some twine and canvas to
repair his sails. The prize was of about 70 tons burthen and was loaded
with beeswax, hides, tallow, and tobacco. She was without a boat, as it
had been washed overboard, so Lieutenant Grant shortened sail and desired
her captain to keep near him and gave him the latitude and longitude. On
the following day the Lady Nelson lowered a boat and brought the prize
master on board, to whom Lieutenant Grant gave a chart of the Cape and
several other necessaries. He asked Mr. Black why he had so boldly
approached the Lady Nelson, since his ship was painted like a Spaniard,
and so might well have been taken for one.
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