they could eat, and then bring over as much as swam flat upon the surface, she was ready to they could for their fellows. founder upon every occasion. This obliged them They got boughs of trees, and bound them to-almost every night to seek for some little cove or gether, then wrapped the meat in the hides, and creek to run her into, as into a harbour to prelaid it on the wood, and made a hundred little serve her; for if the wind blew off shore, they contrivances to get it over; so that on one side had enough to do to keep her from driving off; if or other, they got all the meat eaten or brought it blew off from the river, though it were otherWhat they got on their own side the river || wise little wind enough, yet it made a rippling or they made better shift with. chopping of the waters that they had much difficulty to keep it from filling her. over. All the country on the side of this river was a little higher ground than ordinary, which was its security from land-floods, and their security too; for sometimes the river was seen to rise, and that so as to overflow a great extent of land on the other side. Hence, perhaps, the other side might be esteemed the most fruitful, and, perhaps, might be the better land, if it had but half of the art and industry of an European nation to assist the natural fertility of the soil, by keep On the return of their scouts, they found there was no remedy but to build some new vessels of one kind or another, to take in their baggage and provision, which they did, after the manner of their first floats, for they found no trees big enough to make canoes. When, therefore, they had made one great float, they resolved to make two small boats, like yauls or skiffs, with which they might tow their large float or barge; and as this they might do with small stuff, so they found means to line them within and without with the bull's hides, and that, so dexterously joined, and lapped oring the water in its bounds, banking and fencing rolled one over another, that no water came through, or but very little. With these two boats they ferried over the small rivers with ease, each boat carrying six men, besides two to row; and when they were over the small rivers, the two boats served to tow their great punt or barge close by the shore. The greatest difficulty was for tow-lines to draw the boats by, and that they supplied by twisting a strong tough kind of flag or rush, which they found in the river, of which, with great application, they made a kind of rope-yarn, and then twisting it again, made it very strong. This was the voiture with which they carried themselves down quite to the sea; and one of these boats it was, that we spied, as above, coming to us in the bay. They had yet above four hundred and fifty miles to the sea, nor could they at any time tell or guess how far off it might be. They went on more or less every day, but it was but slowly, and not without great labour, both of rowing and towing. Their provisions also cost them much labour, and it was a great deal of difficulty that they were obliged, arst to hunt and kill it, and then to bring it to the camp, which was always close to the river's side. After they had travelled thus some time, following the course of the river, behold they came to a place, where of a sudden they could see no farther bank of the river, but it looked all water like the sea; they could not imagine what it must be so the next day they rowed towards it with one of their little boats, when they were surprised to find that it was the northern branch of the river which they had seen go off before they came at the waterfalls, which river being now increased with many other great waters, was now so great that the mouth of it might be said to be four or five miles over, and rather received this river which they were on into it than ran into this; but after this it contracted itself again, though still it was supposed to be a mile and a half over. They were not glad of this conjunction of the waters at all, because the great water being thus joined, they found the stream or current more violent, and the water upon the least stirring of the wind much more turbulent than it was before; and as their great float drew but little water, and the meadows from the inundations and freshes which were frequently sent down from the Andes, and from the country adjoining. But as it now was, those lower lands lay great part of the year under water, whether it was the better or the worse for the soil, that no judgment can be made of till some people come to settle there, to whom it shall be worth while to make experiments of that kind. This part of the country they were now in resembled, as they hinted, the county of Dorsetshire and the downs about Salisbury, only not lying so high from the surface of the water, and the soil being a good fruitful dark mould, not a chalky solid rock as in the county about Salisbury, &c. Here they found a greater quantity of deer than they had seen in all their journey, which they often had the good luck to kill for their supply of food, the creatures not being so shy and wild as they had found farther within the country. It may be noted here, and it is very observable, that in all this journey I do not learn, that they saw either wolf or fox, bear or lion, or indeed any other ravenous creature, which they had the least reason to be shy or afraid of, or which indeed were frightful to the deer; and this, perhaps, may be the reason why the number of those creatures is so great, which, as I have said, is greater there than at other places. After they had feasted themselves here, as above, for some days, they resolved to begin their new kind of navigation, and see what they could make of it; but they went very heavily along, and every now and then, as I have said above, the water was too rough for them, and they were fain to put into harbour, and sometimes lie two and three days; however, they plied their time as well as they could, and sometimes the current setting over to their side and running strong by the shore, they would go at a great rate, insomuch, that one time they said they went above thirty miles in a day, having, besides the current, a little gale of wind right a-stern They reckoned that they went near two hundred miles in this manner, for they made the best of it; and at the end of this two hundred miles, it was by their reckoning that our five men who travelled into the country so far, found them, 1 when they saw the hat swimming down the stream; which hat, it seems, one of them let fall over-board in the night. They had, I say, travelled thus far with great difficulty, the river being so large; but as they observed it growing larger and larger, the farther they went, so they said they did not doubt but that in a little more they should come to the sea. They also observed, that now as they found the waters larger, and the rivers wider, they killed more fowls than formerly, and particularly more of the duck-foot kind, though they could not perceive any sea-fowls, or such as they had been used to. They saw a great many wild swans and some geese, as also duck, and mallard, and teal; and these, I say, increased as they drew nearer the sea. This made them all set up a shout of joy, as if they imagined their fellows, who were yet many miles from them, should hear them; but the captain and officers, who knew what they were to do on this occasion, ran to their baggage, and took out their own rockets and other materials, and prepared to answer the signal. They were on a low ground, but at less than a mile's distance the land went ascending to a round crown or knowl, pretty high. Away they ran thither, and set up a frame in an instant; but, as they were making these preparations, behold, to confirm their news, they saw a third rocket rise up in the air, in the same place as before. It was near an hour from the first flash, as they called it, before they could get all things They could give very little account of the fish ready; but then they fired two rockets from the which the rivers produced, though they some-adjoining hill, soon after one another, and after times catched a few in the smaller river, but as they had neither fishing hook or nets, which was the only omission in my fitting them out, they had no opportunity to furnish themselves. They had, likewise, no salt, neither was it possible to furnish them with salt, so they cured their meat in the sun, and seasoned it with that excellent sauce called hunger. that, at about ten minutes' distance of time, a Upon this, they saw another single rocket rise This was, you will conclude, a very joyful The account they gave of discovering our five night, and the next morning they went all hands men was thus, in short: They had been for two to work at the boats, getting out of the crea days pretty successful in their navigation, as I early, and made the best of their way; however. have described it, but were obliged to stop and with all they could do, they could not go above put in at the mouth of a little river, which made twelve miles that day, for the current, setting them a good harbour; the reason of their stay over to the other shore, had left them, and in was, they had no victuals, so by consent they some places they would have rather an eddy all went hunting, and at night, having shot two stream against them, and this discouraged them guinacos and a deer, they came to supper to- a little; but depending that they were near their gether in their great tent, and having fed port, and that their friends were not far off, they heartily, you may suppose, on such good pro- were very cheerful. At night they looked out visions, they began to be merry; and the cap-again for rockets, which failed not to rejoice their tain and officers having a little store left, though not much, they pulled out their bottles, and drank every one a dram to their good voyage, and to the merry meeting of their ships, and gave every man a sup. But their mirth was increased beyond expressing when two of the men who were without the tent door cried out it lightened; one said he saw the flash, he was sure, and the other said he thought he saw it too; but, as it happened, their backs were towards the east, so that they did not see the occasion. This lightning was certainly the first flash of one of our five men's rockets, or the breaking of it, and the stars that were at the end of it, up in the air. hearts again, and with this addition, that it ap We were overjoyed at meeting, you may be As soon as we had the boat on board, we hauled it up into the ship for a relic, and taking two of the men with us, we manned out all our ships' boats to go and fetch the rest, for they were, When the captain heard the men say it light- as these men told us, about seventeen miles up ened, he jumped off his seat, and called aloud to the river still, and could not come any further, them to tell him which way; but they foolishly their boats being not able to bring them along, replied, to the N. W., which was the way their and the river growing very broad and dangerous. faces were when they saw it; but the word was The eldest of my midshipmen came in this first no sooner spoken but the two fellows fell a hol-boat, but the captain and the other stayed with lowing and roaring, as if they were distracted, and said they saw a rocket rise up in the air to the eastward. So nimble were the men at this word that they were all out of the tent in a moment, and saw the last bounce or flash of the rocket with the stars, which, spreading themselves in the air, shone with the usual bright light that it is known those things give. the men, who were very unruly, and ever and When our boats came to them, and took them tled matters a little with them, having had an account how mutinous and fractious they had been; and I made them all stay there until I had fully adjusted everything with them about their treasure, which, indeed, was so much that they scarce knew how to govern themselves under the thought of it. Here I proposed conditions to them at first; that all the gold should be shared before they went on board, and that it should be put on board the ship, as goods for every man's single account; that I would give them bills of lading for it; and I offered to swear to them to deliver it into every man's possession, separately, at the first port we should come to anchor at in England or France; and that, at that said port, they should every man have the one hundred pounds I had promised them, as above, for the undertaking this journey, delivered to them in money, that is to say, in gold dust; and that they alone should have full liberty to go on shore with it, and go whither they would, no man whatever but themselves, being allowed to set foot on shore in the same place, distress excepted. This they insisted on, because they had done some things, which, if I would, I might have pursued || some of them for, perhaps to the gallows; but that I promised to forgive them, and to enquire no more after it. In a word, there had been a scuffle among them, in which one of their canoes was overset, as was said, and one of their number drowned, at the same time when they lost a great part of their gold; and some were thought to have done it maliciously too. However as I had no occasion to trouble them on that score, not being upon the spot when it was done; so having made this capitulation with them I performed it punctually, and set them all on shore, with their wealth, in the river of Garonne, in France their gold, their one hundred pounds reward for their journey, their wages, and their share of pearl, and other advantages, made them very rich, for their cargo when cast up on shore might perhaps amount to about four hundred pounds a man. How they disposed of themselves or their money I never gave myself the trouble to enquire, and if I had it is none of my business to give an account of it here. We dismissed also near fourscore more of our men afterwards, in a little creek, which was at their own request; for most of them having been of the Madagascar men, and by consequence pirates, they were willing to be easy, and I was as willing to make them so, and, therefore, cleared with as many of them as desired it. But I return to our ship. Having thus made a long capitulation with our travellers, I took them all on board, and had leisure enough to have a long narration from them of their voyage, and from which account I take the liberty to recommend that part of America as the best and most advantageous part of the whole globe for an English colony, the climate, the soil, and, above all, the easy communication with the mountains of Chili, recommending it beyond any place that I ever saw or read of, as I shall further make appear by itself. We had nothing now to do but to make the best of our way for England, and setting sail from the mouth of the river Camerones, so the Spa. niards call it, the 18th of January, in which we had a more difficult and unpleasant voyage than in any other part of our way, chiefly, because being a rich ship, and not knowing how affairs stood in Europe, I kept to the northward, as far as the banks of Newfoundland, steering thence to the coast of Galitia, where we touched as above. After which we went through the channel, and arrived safe in Dunkirk-road the 12th of April; and from thence gave private notice of our good fortune to our merchants and owners; two of whom came over to us. and received at our hands such a treasure as gave them reason to be very well satistied with their adventure. But, to my grief, my particular friend, the merchant, who put us upon all the curiosity and all the discovery you have heard of, was dead before our return; which if it had not happened, this new scheme of a trade round the world had, perhaps, never been made public till it had been put in practice, by a set of merchants designed to be concerned in it, from the new Austrian Netherlands. DI LONDON: REPRINTED BY CHARLES REYNELL, LITTLE PULTENEY STREET; AND PUBLISHED BY J. CLEMENTS, AT 21 AND 22, IN THE SAME STREET. MDCCCXL. |