_A short Account of Chequetan, and of the adjacent Coast and Country._
The harbour of Chequetan lies in the latitude of 17° 36' N. and is
about thirty leagues to the westward of Acapulco. It is easy to
be discovered by any ship that will keep well in with the land,
especially by such as range down coast from Acapulco, and will attend
to the following particulars.
There is a beach of sand which extends eighteen leagues from the
harbour of Acapulco to the westward, against which the sea breaks with
such violence that it is impossible to land in any part of it; but yet
the ground is so clean; that ships, in the fair season, may anchor in
great safety at the distance of a mile or two from the shore. The land
adjacent to this beach is generally low, full of villages, and planted
with a great number of trees; and on the tops of some small eminencies
there are several look-out towers, so that the face of the country
affords a very agreeable prospect: For the cultivated part, which is
the part here described, extends some leagues back from the shore, and
there appears to be bounded by the chain of mountains, which stretch
to a considerable distance on either side of Acapulco. It is a most
remarkable particularity, that in this whole extent, being, as hath
been mentioned, eighteen leagues, and containing, in appearance, the
most populous and best planted district of the whole coast, there
should be neither canoes, boats, nor any other embarkations either for
fishing, coasting, or for pleasure.
The beach here described is the surest guide for finding the harbour
of Chequetan; for five miles to the westward of the extremity of this
beach there appears a hummock, which at first makes like an island,
and is in shape not very unlike the hill of Petaplan, hereafter
mentioned, though much smaller. Three miles to the westward of this
hummock is a white rock lying near the shore, which cannot easily be
passed by unobserved; it is about two cables length from the land,
and lies in a large bay about nine leagues over. The westward point
of this bay is the hill of Petaplan. This hill, like the forementioned
hummock, may be at first mistaken for an island, though it be, in
reality, a peninsula, which is joined to the continent by a low and
narrow isthmus, covered over with shrubs and small trees. The bay of
Seguataneo extends from this hill a great way to the westward; and at
a small distance from the hill, and opposite to the entrance of
the bay, there is an assemblage of rocks, which are white, from the
excrements of boobies and tropical birds. Four of these rocks are high
and large, and, together with several other smaller ones, are, by
the help of a little imagination, pretended to resemble the form of a
cross, and are called the White Friars. These rocks bear W. by N.
from Petaplan, and about seven miles to the westward of them lies the
harbour of Chequetan, which is still more minutely distinguished by a
large and single rock, that rises out of the water a mile and a half
distant from its entrance, and bears S. 1/2 W. from the middle of
it.[1]
[Footnote 1: In the original are references to some plates, which
cannot be given in this work.--E.]
These are the infallible marks by which the harbour of Chequetan may
be known to those who keep well in with the land; and I must add, that
the coast is no ways to be dreaded from the middle of October to the
beginning of May, nor is there then any danger from the winds, though
in the remaining part of the year there are frequent and violent
tornadoes, heavy rains, and hard gales, in all directions of the
compass. But as to those who keep at any considerable distance from
the coast, there is no other method to be taken by them for finding
this harbour than that of making it by its latitude; for there are so
many ranges of mountains rising one upon the back of another within
land, that no drawings of the appearance of the coast can be at all
depended on when off at sea, for every little change of distance, or
variation of position, brings new mountains in view, and produces an
infinity of different prospects, which would render all attempts of
delineating the aspect of the coast impossible.
The harbour is environed on all sides, except to the westward, with
high mountains overspread with trees. The passage into it is very safe
on either side of the rock that lies off the mouth of it, though we,
both in coming in and going out, left it to the eastward. The ground
without the harbour is gravel mixed with stones, but within it is soft
mud: And it must be remembered, that in coming to an anchor a good
allowance should be made for a large swell, which frequently causes a
great send of the sea; as likewise for the ebbing and flowing of the
tide, which we observed to be about five feet, and that it set nearly
E. and W.
The watering-place had the appearance of a large standing lake,
without any visible outlet into the sea, from which it is separated
by a part of the strand. The origin of this lake is a spring, that
bubbles out of the ground near half a mile within the country. We
found the water a little brackish, but more considerably so towards
the sea-side, for the nearer we advanced towards the spring-head,
the softer and fresher it proved: This laid us under a necessity
of filling all our casks from the furthest part of the lake, and
occasioned us some trouble, and would have proved still more difficult
had it not been for our particular management, which, for the
conveniency of it, deserves to be recommended to all who shall
hereafter water at this place. Our method consisted in making use of
canoes which drew but little water; for, loading them with a number of
small casks, they easily got up the lake to the spring-head, and the
small casks being there filled, were in the same manner transported
back again to the beach, where some of our hands always attended to
start them into other casks of a larger size.
Though this lake, during our continuance there, appeared to have no
outlet into the sea, yet there is reason to suppose that in the wet
season it overflows the strand, and communicates with the ocean; for
Dampier, who was formerly here, speaks of it as a large river. Indeed,
there must be a very great body of water amassed before the lake can
rise high enough to overflow the strand, for the neighbouring country
is so low, that great part of it must be covered with water before it
can run out over the beach.
As the country in the neighbourhood, particularly the tract which we
have already described, appeared to be well peopled and cultivated, we
hoped thence to have procured fresh provision and other refreshments
which we stood in need of. With this view, the morning after we came
to an anchor, the commodore ordered a party of forty men, well armed,
to march into the country, and to endeavour to discover some town
or village, where they were to attempt a correspondence with the
inhabitants; for we doubted not if we could have any intercourse with
them, but that by presents of some of the coarse merchandise, with
which our prizes abounded (which, though of little consequence to us,
would to them be extremely valuable,) we should allure them to furnish
us with whatever fruits or fresh provisions were in their power. Our
people were directed on this occasion to proceed with the greatest
circumspection, and to make as little ostentation of hostility as
possible; for we were sensible that we could meet with no wealth here
worth our notice, and that what necessaries we really wanted we
should in all probability be better supplied with by an open amicable
traffic, than by violence and force of arms. But this endeavour of
opening an intercourse with the inhabitants proved ineffectual, for
towards evening, the party which had been ordered to march into the
country, returned greatly fatigued with their unusual exercise, and
some of them so far spent as to have fainted by the way, and to be
obliged to be brought back upon the shoulders of their companions.
They had marched in all, as they conceived, about ten miles, in a
beaten road, where they often saw the fresh dung of horses or mules.
When they had got about five miles from the harbour, the road divided
between the mountains into two branches, one running to the east and
the other to the west. After some deliberation about the course they
should take, they agreed to pursue the eastern road, which, when they
had followed for some time, led them at once into a large plain or
savannah; on one side of which they discovered a centinel on horseback
with a pistol in his hand: It was supposed that when they first saw
him he was asleep, but his horse startled at the glittering of their
arms, and, turning round suddenly, rode off with his master, who was
very near being unhorsed in the surprise, but he recovered his seat,
and escaped with the loss of his hat and his pistol, which he dropped
on the ground. Our people ran after him, in hopes of discovering
some village or habitation, but as he had the advantage of being on
horseback, they soon lost sight of him. However, they were unwilling
to come back without making some discovery, and therefore still
followed the track they were in; but the heat of the day increasing,
and finding no water to quench their thirst, they were first obliged
to halt, and then resolved to return; for, as they saw no signs of
plantations or cultivated land, they had no reason to believe that
there was any village or settlement near them: But, to leave no means
untried of procuring some intercourse with the people, the
officers stuck up several poles in the road, to which were affixed
declarations, written in Spanish, encouraging the inhabitants to
come down to the harbour and to traffic with us, giving the strongest
assurances of a kind reception, and faithful payment for any
provisions they should bring us. This was doubtless a very prudent
measure, but it produced no effect; for we never saw any of them
during the whole time of our continuance at this port of Chequetan.
But had our men, upon the division of the path, taken the western road
instead of the eastern, it would soon have led them to a village or
town, which, in some Spanish manuscripts, is mentioned as being in
the neighbourhood of this port, and which we afterwards learnt was not
above two miles from that turning.
And on this occasion I cannot help mentioning another adventure which
happened to some of our people in the bay of Petaplan, as it may help
to give the reader a just idea of the temper of the inhabitants of
this part of the world. Some time after our arrival at Chequetan,
Lieutenant Brett was sent by the commodore, with two of our boats
under his command, to examine the coast to the eastward, particularly
to make observations on the bay and watering-place of Petaplan. As Mr
Brett with one of the boats was preparing to go on shore towards the
hill of Petaplan, he, accidentally looking across the bay, perceived,
on the opposite strand, three small squadrons of horse parading upon
the beach, and seeming to advance towards the place where he proposed
to land. On sight of this he immediately put off the boat, though he
had but sixteen men with him, and stood over the bay towards them; and
he soon came near enough to perceive that they were mounted on very
sightly horses, and were armed with carbines and lances. On seeing him
make towards them they formed upon the beach, and seemed resolved to
dispute his landing, firing several distant shot at him as he drew
near; till at last, the boat being arrived within a reasonable
distance of the most advanced squadron, Mr Brett ordered his people
to fire, upon which this resolute cavalry instantly ran in great
confusion into the wood. In this precipitate flight one of their
horses fell down and threw his rider; but whether he was wounded or
not we could not learn, for both man and horse soon got up again, and
followed the rest. In the mean time the other two squadrons, who were
drawn up at a great distance behind, out of the reach of our shot,
were calm spectators of the rout of their comrades; for they had
halted on our first approach, and never advanced afterwards. It was,
doubtless, fortunate for our people that the enemy acted with so
little prudence, and exerted so little spirit, for had they concealed
themselves till our men had landed, it is scarcely possible but
the whole boat's crew must have fallen into their hands, since the
Spaniards were not much short of two hundred in number. However,
the discovery of so considerable a force collected in this bay of
Petaplan, obliged us constantly to keep a boat or two before it; for
we were apprehensive that the cutter, which we had left to cruise off
Acapulco, might, on her return, be surprised by the enemy, if she did
not receive timely information of her danger.
After our unsuccessful attempt to engage the people of the country
to furnish us with the necessaries we wanted, we were obliged to be
contented with what we could procure in the neighbourhood of the
port. We caught fish here in tolerable quantities, especially when the
smoothness of the water permitted us to hale the seyne. Amongst the
rest, we got here cavallies, breams, mullets, soles, fiddle-fish, sea
eggs, and lobsters; and here, and in no other place, met with that
extraordinary fish called the Torpedo, or numbing fish, which is in
shape very like the fiddle-fish, and is not to be known from it but by
a brown circular spot of about the bigness of a crown-piece near the
centre of its back; perhaps its figure will be better understood when
I say it is a flat fish, much resembling the thorn-back. This fish is
of a most singular nature, productive of the strangest effects on the
human body; for whoever handles it, or happens even to set his foot
upon it, is presently seized with a numbness all over him, but more
distinguishable in that limb which was in immediate contact with it.
The same effect, too, will be, in some degree, produced by touching
the fish, with any thing held in the hand; for I myself had a
considerable degree of numbness conveyed to my right arm through a
walking cane, which I rested on the body of the fish for some time,
and I make no doubt but I should have been much more sensibly affected
had not the fish been near expiring when I made the experiment: For it
is observable that this influence acts with most vigour when the fish
is first taken out of the water, and entirely ceases when it is
dead, so that it may be then handled, or even eaten, without any
inconvenience. I shall only add that the numbness of my arm on
this occasion did not go off on a sudden, as the accounts of some
naturalists gave me reason to expect, but diminished gradually, so
that I had some sensation of it remaining till the next day.
To the account given of the fish we met with here, I must add, that
though turtle now grew scarce, and we met with none in this harbour of
Chequetan, yet our boats, which, as I have mentioned, were stationed
off Petaplan, often supplied us therewith; and though this was a food
that we had now been so long as it were confined to, (for it was the
only fresh provisions which we had tasted for near six months,) yet we
were far from being cloyed with it, or finding that the relish we had
of it at all diminished.
The animals we met with on shore were principally guanos, with which
the country abounds, and which are by some reckoned delicious food.
We saw no beasts of prey here, except alligators, several of which
our people discovered, but none of them very large. However, we were
satisfied there were tygers in the woods, though none of them came in
sight; for we every morning found the beach near the watering-place
imprinted with their footsteps: But we never apprehended any mischief
from them, for they are by no means so fierce as the Asiatic or
African tyger, and are rarely, if ever, known to attack mankind. Birds
were in sufficient plenty, especially pheasants of different kinds,
some of them of an uncommon size, but they were very dry and tasteless
food. Besides these we had a variety of smaller birds, particularly
parrots, which we often killed for food.
The fruits and vegetable refreshments at this place were neither
plentiful, nor of the best kinds: There were, it is true, a few
bushes scattered about the woods, which supplied us with limes, but we
scarcely could procure enough for our present use; and these, with
a small plumb of an agreeable acid, called in Jamaica the hog-plumb,
together with another fruit called a papah, were the only fruits to be
found in the woods. Nor is there any other useful vegetable here worth
mentioning, except brook-lime: This indeed grew in great quantities
near the fresh-water banks; and, as it was esteemed an antiscorbutic,
we fed upon it frequently, though its extreme bitterness made it very
unpalatable.
By all that has been said, it will appear that the conveniences of
this port of Chequetan, particularly in the articles of refreshment,
are not altogether such as might be desired: But, upon the whole, it
is a place of considerable consequence, as the only secure harbour in
a vast extent of coast, except Acapulco.