to the Portuguese plantations in search of them. It being almost
midnight, the inhabitants took the alarm, and planted themselves in
ambuscade to destroy them as they came back. No sooner had they returned
into the boat, than they heard them rushing out of the woods, crying,
“Kill the dogs, kill all the English dogs.” This outcry was instantly
followed by a volley of small arms, which wounded three of my men, two
through the thigh, and another through the arm.
I sent a letter of complaint, by Hatley, to the Captain of the
Portuguese man-of-war in the harbour: but Hatley, at his entrance into
the ship, was furiously assaulted by Emanuel Mansa (the Captain of the
island), crying out, This was the man who had committed so many
insolencies towards them, and that this was he who had burnt one of
their houses, and had made it a common practice to abuse and affront him
with the opprobrious name of cuckold. Upon this exclamation, the ship’s
company sided with Mansa, and fell upon Hatley, and would certainly have
used both him and his boat’s crew very severely, had not the Captain and
his officers, with much difficulty, prevented it; for the Portuguese
seamen were exasperated to that degree, that it is more than likely they
would have murdered him, had they not been timely hindered.
The Captain, in his answer to my letter, expressed his sorrow for what
had happened, said the people were without law, and that it was out of
his power to punish them; that they were wild and lurked in the woods;
and that in seeking revenge, it would only expose my men to butchery. He
asked my pardon for the ill usage my officer had met with on board his
ship; but withal gave me to understand, there could be no greater
provocation to the people of that nation, than that which Hatley was
accused of by Mansa. That his ship’s company had got Hatley amongst them
before he knew any thing of the matter, and that he was obliged to call
his priest to his assistance, before he could get him out of their
hands, and in a very handsome manner touched upon Hatley’s story. I made
no long stay after this disaster, but took our departure from the
northernmost point of St. Catherine’s on the 9th of August; and on the
19th, Mr. La Port, my third Lieutenant, broke his leg.
From the time we left St. Catherine’s, till now, we had for the most
part squally weather. As we advanced to the southward, my people’s
stomachs increased with the sharpness of the air to that degree, that
the allowance which the government gives in the navy was not sufficient
to satisfy their hunger. Some of my officers, in particular Mr. Betagh,
my Captain of marines, who had been formerly a purser of a man-of-war,
and a man whom I had a great regard for, was the champion for an
addition of allowance at my table; for he told me he had orders from the
adventurers to eat with me; and what was my table, if I did not eat
better than the cook? He did not stop here, but urged by his
intemperance, and finding me unwilling to squander away our provisions,
without knowing when or where we might get any more, he at length had
the insolence to tell me publicly, that the voyage should be short with
me, which he often repeated. I should have had reason to fear it, had he
been capable of commanding; but, for his punishment, I excluded him both
from my mess and the great cabbin. Upon this, finding I was in earnest
with him, and fearing some heavier punishment, he sent me a letter,
asking my pardon for what he had done; upon which I again restored him
in a handsomer manner than he afterwards deserved, as will appear by the
sequel.
Between St. Catherine’s and the river of Plate, the whales, grampusses,
and other fish of monstrous bulk, are in such numbers, that I cannot see
why a trade for blubber might not be carried on here. I may venture to
affirm, it is a safer navigation than that carried on to the northward,
and I am apt to believe here is a greater certainty of success in making
up a cargo.
Sept. 19, about midnight I perceived the water to be discoloured all at
once, and upon heaving the lead, we found ourselves in 26 fathom water;
this done, I stood off again to sea, but we did not deepen our water in
the running of five leagues. This seems to be a bank very near the
entrance of the straits of Magellan. I had a fine opportunity of going
through these straits: but Captain Clipperton in his plan pretended, out
of the abundance of his judgment and experience, that the straits of Le
Mair would be the best navigation for us, though he himself passed
through the straits of Magellan. From this I might have conjectured,
that he, who never was fond of having a consort with him, designed to
make use of this as a likely expedient to separate himself; for he was a
man that would do any thing, though ever so dishonest or inhuman;--[a
reflection, however, that carries more of malice than of truth on the
face of it.]
Sept. 13, the fog clearing up, we had a full, but melancholy prospect,
of the most desolate country that can be conceived, seeming no other
than continued ridges and chains of mountains, one within another,
perpetually buried in snow. Towards noon we were becalmed within three
leagues of the mountains called the Three Brothers, so named from their
equal height, near resemblance, and proximity to one another. Till now,
we had not been sensible of any helps or hindrances by currents; but
this afternoon we were hurried with incredible rapidity into the
straits, and just as we had gained somewhat more than the mid-passage,
the northern tide came rushing upon us with a violence equal to that of
the tide which had brought us in, and, to our great astonishment, drove
us out of the straits again at a great and extraordinary rate,
notwithstanding we had a fresh and fair gale with us at N. W. Upon the
shifting of this tide to windward, there arose such a short, and, while
it lasted, so hollow a sea, and so lofty withal, that we alternately
dipped our bowsprit end, and poop lanthorns, into the water. Our ship
laboured in the most alarming manner, and became insensible of the
guidance of her helm; but at midnight the tide shifted, and we put
through the straits without seeing the land on either side, and in the
morning had a very good offing to the southward. We had found it very
cold before we came this length, but now we began to feel the extreme of
it. The bleak westerly winds of themselves would have been sufficiently
piercing, but they were always attended with drifts either of snow or
sleet, which, continually beating on our sails and rigging, cased the
masts and every rope with ice, so that there was no handling them. It
was common with us to be two or three days together lying to under bare
poles, exposed all the while to the assaults of prodigious seas, much
larger than any I had ever observed before. The winds reigning thus
tempestuously, without intermission, in the western board, we had
stretched away into lat. 61 deg. 30 min. S. where we were in continual
dread of falling foul of islands of ice, and where we found the
variation to be 22 deg. 6 min. to the north-eastward.
October 1, as we were furling the main-sail, one William Camell cried
out, that his hands were so benumbed, he could not hold himself; but
before those who were next to him could lay hold of him, he fell into
the sea, and the ship making fresh way, and the sea running high, we
lost sight of him before we could bring to. Indeed, one would imagine it
impossible that any thing could live in so rigid a climate; and, truly,
we saw neither fish nor bird, except one solitary albitross, which
accompanied us for several days, and hovered about us, till Hatley
concluding, in a gloomy fit, that the company of this melancholy bird
brought us ill luck, resolved to destroy him, in hopes we might then
have better weather.
October 22, at eight at night, we carried away our fore-top-mast, and
rigged another next morning. We crept by very slow degrees, after we had
ventured to tack and stand to the northward, in hopes to weather our way
into the Great South Seas; and indeed it may be averred, that from the
time we passed the straits of Le Mair, till we had the first sight of
the coast of Chili, we had been continually distressed by the winds, and
discouraged by bad weather.
Nov. 14, we saw the coast of Chili, distant 10 leagues, lat. by
observation 47 deg. 28 min. S.
Being now arrived on the confines of the Spanish settlements, we found
ourselves under an absolute necessity of contriving some means by which
we might recruit our wood and water. We had but seven buts of water
remaining, and a much less proportion of wood. I thought it would be
best for us to go first to Narborough’s island, and accordingly directed
our course to that place.
Nov. 21, at seven in the morning, we had soundings in 28 fathom water,
of fine grey and black sand. But here we found a wild road, which could
not be deemed safe for us.--[Here Captain Shelvock laments it as a great
misfortune, that he could not reach Juan Fernandez, in latitude 33 deg.
30 min. S. without stopping; though at the same time it is plain, that
he lost more time in searching for a nearer place of refreshment, than
the direct passage to that island would have taken him up. But the
imputation he would throw upon Clipperton is applicable only to himself:
he never intended to act under him; and all his excuses are mere
shifts.]
Surrounded with doubts and apprehensions, says he, lest we should be
obliged to advance too far on these coasts, without a competent stock of
provisions, one Joseph de la Fontaine, a Frenchman, assured me, that, if
I would go to the island of Chiloe, which was at that time a little to
the northward of us, there was no place for our purpose like it in all
the South Seas; that the towns of Chacao and Calibuco, the first on the
island itself, and the second on the continent, were rich places; that
the former was the usual place of residence of the Governor, and that at
the latter there was a wealthy college of Jesuits; and that there were
considerable magazines kept up, which were always well stocked with
provisions of all kinds.
On these considerations I formed a resolution of going to Chiloe; and on
the 30th of November we entered the channel, with an intent to surprize
and attack the towns of Chacao and Calibuco: but, immediately after we
had come to, the windward tide made out with prodigious rapidity, which
instantly caused a great sea; and the wind increasing at the same time,
the channel all about us appeared like one continued breach. In the
midst of this our ship laid a great strain upon her cable, which
unfortunately parted, and we lost our anchor. We passed by two
commodious bays; and, at length, we rounded a point of land out of the
tide’s way, where we were commodiously sheltered from all
inconveniences; and, the next morning, I sent my second Lieutenant to
make a discovery of the towns of Chacao and Calibuco, and, at the same
time, Captain Hatley, to find out a watering-place for us. He soon
returned again, and brought with him an Indian, who gave us hopes of a
sufficient supply of all we wanted, but afterwards came in the evening
to tell us, the country was forbidden to supply us with any thing. The
Lieutenant not being yet returned, this information made me apprehend
the enemy had taken him, and by that means had learned who we were.
December 3, there came to us a Spanish officer, in a piragua rowed by
eight Indians, who was sent by the Governor to be informed who we were.
As soon as we had a sight of the piragua, I hoisted French colours, and,
when the Spaniard came on board, I told him, we were a homeward-bound
French ship called the St. Rose, and that my name was le Janis le
Breton. Under this notion he staid with us all night, and next morning
departed, not seeming to suspect us. I wrote to the Governor by this
gentleman, signifying, that I wanted a supply of provisions to carry me
back to France, desiring him to assist me in what he could; and received
for answer a complaint against the violences of our men, in killing
their sheep, and driving away their cattle, by which I knew that they
had seen my Lieutenant. But I was in despair of ever seeing him, or the
people who were with him, any more. I therefore sent a message to the
Governor, that provisions I wanted, and provisions I must have, and that
very speedily; and that all the forces of Chacao, Calibuco, Carelmapo,
or Castro, should not frighten or deter me from supplying myself. Soon
after, there came a piragua with a message, signifying, that if I would
send an officer to Chacao, he would treat with me. But I gave him for
answer, that I would treat no where but on board my own ship; and
farther, that it was now too late, since I had already dispatched 80 men
to take all they could find.
Soon after the pinnace arrived, which I had so long given over for lost,
with all her crew; but they were so terrified, that I had no hopes of
their being fit for service in any reasonable time. The officer had no
excuse for not returning as soon as he had got a sight of the town, but
that the tide hurried him away at unawares, and that in the fright he
had forgot he had a graplin in the boat to come to with, till the tide
had shifted. I said but little to him; and only made the officer
sensible of his mismanagement, which had been the ruin of the
advantageous views I might have had, in taking either Chacao or
Calibuco.
December 16, we had now our decks full of live cattle, such as European
sheep, hogs, guanicoes, poultry in abundance, and hams, &c. as also a
good quantity of wheat, barley, potatoes, maize, or Indian corn; and, in
short, I computed that I had added four months provisions to what
remained of our English stock, and that without the least hindrance or
molestation from the enemy.
December 17, we began to unmoor, and at noon we weighed, and sailed out
with the wind at W. S. W. The night before we departed, one of our men
made his escape into the woods. It was beyond all dispute that this
fellow would give a full account of us. This, added to the ill conduct
of my Lieutenant, together with the contrary execution of all my orders,
by those officers whom I had hitherto entrusted in affairs of
importance, made me despair of ever having any thing done to purpose;
and on this occasion, I could not forbear reflecting on the
mismanagement of some gentlemen in England, who blindly made use of
their interest to prefer persons to posts for which they were utterly
unfit.
I sailed from Chiloe with a design to go straight to the island of Juan
Fernandez, but was prevented by my people, who were possessed with
notions of vast advantages to be made by going to the port of
Conception. It was our Frenchman, who had been so instrumental in our
Chiloenian attempt, who was the cause of this. Finding his accounts
hitherto tolerably just, they once more listened to him; and every one
of my ship’s company, who could say any thing at this juncture, did not
fail to speak his mind somewhat insolently; particularly William
Morphew, one of the men I had out of the Ruby, and who had been in these
seas several years, took upon him to tell me that it could not signify
much whether we arrived two or three days sooner or later at Juan
Fernandez; that I was a stranger here, but that the Frenchman and
himself were so well acquainted with these seas, that every body hoped I
would be advised and go to Conception, and not put a mere punctilio to
orders in the balance against a certainty of success, if we were so
happy as to arrive at that port in time. Considering now how easily they
might be brought to throw off command, and how little I should be able
to help myself, alone, as I might be said to be, if they came to that
extremity, I complied with them, and resolved to spend two or three days
in going to Conception; and, on December the 23d, we came abreast of the
Teats of Bio Bio, and in the evening arrived in the bay, from whence I
ordered the boats, well manned and armed, to go up in the night to
surprize what ships or vessels might be in the harbour, and to make what
observations they could concerning the place.
About noon, Captain Hatley returned in the pinnace, and informed me he
had taken the Solidad d’Anday, of 150 tons, the only ship in the road or
port, lately come from Baldivia, laden with timber; had no body on board
except the boatswain, an old negroe, and two Indian boys. He took also a
small vessel of about 25 tons, near the island of Quiriquine, which
belonged to a priest who had been gathering fruits, and was now made a
prisoner in her, together with four or five Indians. This vessel we
found very useful, and called her the Mercury, being well built, and
ready upon all occasions to look into port. There was another small
vessel that passed within pistol-shot, but Capt. Hatley never once
offered to follow her, or bring her to. Hatley, truly, said, he did not
mind her, though his boat’s crew all agreed she was full of men. This
vessel was bringing advice of us from Chiloe. I did not fail to
reprimand him for this, but to what effect!
Dec. 26, the priest being very solicitous to ransom his bark, he left my
ship in the morning, and, in my pinnace rowed by Indians, went ashore to
get money for that purpose. At noon, Mr. Brooks, first Lieutenant,
brought down the ship we had taken, and anchored her about half a mile
short of us. The boatswain of her had not been on board above two hours
before he gave me information of a vessel laden with wine, brandy, and
other valuable things, bound to the island of Chiloe, lying at anchor in
the bay of Herradura, about two leagues to the northward of us. Thither
I ordered Mr. Randall, our second Lieutenant, with the boatswain of the
Solidad, and 25 men, to go; with positive orders not to set a foot on
shore, or make any hazardous attempt whatever. But the next evening they
returned with a dismal story, that they went into the bay, and finding
the vessel hauled dry on shore, the officer ordered his people to land,
and bring away what they could out of her; but their career was soon
stopped; for they had no sooner got upon the bank, than they discovered
the enemy rushing out furiously upon them. They all escaped except five,
who were overtaken in shoal water, and they all agreed that those five
were cut to pieces. The Spaniards came down upon them, preceded by 20 or
30 horses a-breast, linked to each other. These were two deep; then came
the enemy, mounted, and lying upon their horses necks, driving the
others before them. They were not once seen to sit upright in their
saddles, except when there was no danger, or to fire their musquets.
This new addition to our misfortunes quite dispirited the greatest part
of my ship’s company. Nothing was now heard but murmuring, and damning
the South Seas, and declaring that, if this was making their fortune,
they had better have staid at home and begged about the streets; but
just as I was expostulating with Mr. Randall, who conducted this
unfortunate undertaking, I was agreeably surprized with the sight of a
large ship, which we saw coming about the northernmost point of the
island of Quiriquine. It was almost dark, and she could not perceive
what we were, so that she stood towards us without fear. As soon as she
approached near enough, I hailed her, to which she returned no answer,
and I fired into her. This was no sooner done, than she came to, and
called for quarter. She was called the St. Fermin, came from Callao,
burthen about 300 tons, and laden with sugar, melasses, rice, coarse
French linnen, and some cloths of Quito, together with a small quantity
of chocolate, and about 5 or 6000 dollars in money and wrought plate. I
sent Mr. Hendry (the agent for prizes) to inspect her lading, and to
order every thing he could find valuable out of her, and the ship’s
company sent their agent likewise. In the afternoon they returned, and
brought all the bales, boxes, chests, portmanteaus, &c. that were in
her; and also all the rice, with a large quantity of sugar, melasses,
and chocolate, and about 7000 weight of good rusk, with all her
eatables, and stores.
Don Francisco Larrayn, her Captain, desired to ransom his ship, to which
I willingly consented, and suffered him to go in his own launch to raise
money for that purpose.
Dec. 30, there came a boat with an officer and a flag of truce, who
brought word that three only of our people in the skirmish at Harradura
were killed, the other two wounded, and in a fair way of recovery, and
that the boat had brought advice of us, as I suspected, from that
island. The officer brought me seven jars of very good wine, a present
from the Governor, and a letter full of civility, but written with a
great deal of craft. He desired to see my commission, and then he would
treat with me according to the laws of arms.
January 1, Captain Betagh went to Conception with a copy of my
commission, the declaration of war, &c. and soon after he returned with
a Flemish jesuit, a Spanish lawyer, and an Englishman and a Scotchman.
The jesuit assured me he was only come to pay his respects to me, and to
do his utmost to promote the affair of the ransom, and bring it to an
immediate conclusion. Therefore the first thing I did, was to shew my
commission to the Englishman, who read it in Spanish. The jesuit then
told me, that the Captains of the St. Fermin and Solidad had resolved to
give me 12,000 dollars for the ransom of both the ships, and the Mercury
included, instead of 16000 dollars which I had insisted on for the St.
Fermin only. To this I positively answered, that all their persuasions,
artifices, and pretences, should never make me agree with them. We had
taken in the St. Fermin, ten large silver candlesticks, each of them
weighing above twenty-five pounds sterling. The holy father, in a
suppliant manner, represented to me that they were a legacy to his
convent, and hoped I would make no dispute of so noble a charity as it
would be to put them into the possession of those for whom they were
designed. I offered to let him have them for their weight in dollars,
which, considering the great price they pay in those parts for the
fashion of wrought plate, was a very advantageous offer. But he said
they never bought any thing for sacred uses; and that, as the workmen
put a great deal of allay into plate, it would be difficult to determine
the different values of the dollars and the candlesticks; so, after a
deal of needless dispute and entreaties, both about this, and the ransom
of the ships, the jesuit and the rest affirming that the Captains of the
St. Fermin, &c. were not able to raise above 12,000 dollars, there was
nothing done.
Two days passing without news from the Governor, I began to be certainly
convinced they had something else in view more than the accommodation of
the ransoms; but on January the 4th, my two wounded men came on board,
and with them brought a letter, importing, that, as he had now sent back
the prisoners, he hoped no difficulty would remain to prevent my sending
on shore all the prisoners belonging to him.
January 6, the morning passed away without any news from the town. I now
began to make preparations for sailing, and in those preparations spent
the greatest part of the day. There being no appearance of any boat
coming off to us, I ordered the St. Fermin to be set on fire. Her cotton
sails being loosed, made a prodigious blaze. I had already set fire to
the Solidad, to quicken their motions; and now, having concluded the
treaty, I immediately got under sail, much chagrined at the loss of so
many days without reaping any advantage. I was afterwards informed,
that, if they had thought I would have destroyed the St. Fermin, they
would have given even 20 or 30,000 dollars to have saved her; for she
was one of the best sailers and the best fitted out ship of any of the
Peruvian traders. I now directed our course to the island of Juan
Fernandez, taking the Mercury with us.