1767. April. In the evening of Monday the 27th, which was very dark, as we were standing to the weft-n ward under our courfes, and a clofe reefed Monday 27. top-fail, the wind, in a hard fquall, fuddenly shifted, and took the veffel right a-head; the violent jerk with which the fails were inftantly thrown a-back, was very near carrying the mafts away by the board, and overfetting the ship: the fails being at this time extremely wet, and the gale in the highest degree violent, they clung fo faft to the mafts and rigging, that it was scarcely poffible to get them either up or down ; yet by the dexterous activity of our people, we got the main-fail up, clewed up the main topfail, and got the fhip's head round without receiving much damage. The violence of the wind continued feveral hours, but before morning it veered again to the N. W. and continued in that quarter till the afternoon of the 29th, Wednel, 29, when it died away, and we had a dead calm for fix hours. During this time we had a high fea, which ran in great confufion from all quarters, and broke against the ship in a strange manner, making her roll with fo violent and fudden a motion, that I expected every moment to lose our mafts. The wind afterwards fprung up at W. S. W. which was fair, and we carried all the fail we could fet to make the most of it. It blew very hard in this direction, with heavy rain for a few hours, but by noon on the May. Friday 1. 1767 30th, it returned to its ufual quarter, the N. W. April. and was fo violent as to bring us again under Thursd. 30. our courfes, there being at the fame time a prodigious fwell, which frequently broke over us. At five o'clock the next morning, as we were lying to under the reefed main-fail and balanced mizen, a vaft fea broke over the quarter where the fhip's oars were lashed, and carried away fix of them, with the weather-cloth; it also broke the mizen gaff close where the fail was reefed, and the iron ftrap of one of the main dead eyes, laying the whole veffel for fome time under water; we were however fortunate enough to haul up the main-fail without fplitting, though it blew a hurricane, and a deluge of rain, or rather of half melted ice, at the fame time poured down upon us. The wind foon after fhifted again from N. W. to S. W. and for about an hour blew, if poffible, stronger than ever. This wind made the fhip come up with her head right against the vaft fea which the north-weft wind had raised, and at every pitch which the made against it, the end of the bowsprit was under water, and the furge broke over the forecaftle as far aft as the main maft, in the fame manner as it would have broke over a rock, fo that there was the greatest reafon to apprehend fhe would founder. With all her defects the was indeed a good fea boat, and if fhe had not, it would have been impoffible for her to have out outlived this storm, in which, as well as on feveral other occasions, we experienced the benefit of the bulk-heads which we had fixed on the forepart of the half-deck, and to the after-part of the fore-castle. Notwithstanding this wind was fair, we durft not venture to put the ship before it, for if in wearing, any of these enormous feas had broken on her fide, it would inevitably have carried away all before it. After fome time, however, it became more moderate, and we then got up our yards and made fail, fteering N. by W.; and now the men having been up all night, and being wet to the fkin, I ordered every one of them a dram. 1767. May. Friday 1. By the next morning, the 2d of May, the Saturd. 2. wind came again to the N. W. and N. N. W. but by this time we had got down the broken mizen gaff, repaired it as well as we could, got it up again in its place, and bent the fail to it; but we now moft fenfibly felt the want of a forge and iron. On the 3d, at day-break, we found the rud- Sunday 3. der-chain broken, and upon this occafion we again moft feelingly regretted the want of a forge; we made, however, the best shift we Monday 4. could, and the next day, the weather being more moderate, though the wind was still contrary, we repaired our rigging, and the carpenters fixed a new dead eye where the old one had been C 4 1767. May. Tuesday 5. been broken; the fail-maker alfo was bufy in mending the fails that had been split. On the 5th, we were again brought under our courfes by a hurricane from the N. by W. and. N. N. W. and the fhip was toffed about with fuch violence that we had no command of her. During this ftorm, two of our chainplates were broken, and we continued toiling in a confused hollow fea till midnight, when a light gale fprung up at N. W. which foon blew Wednef. 6. very hard; but at two in the morning, we were again taken right a-head by a fudden and violent squall at weft, which at once threw all our fails aback, and before we could get the fhip round, was very near carrying all by the board. With this gale we stood north, and in the forenoon the carpenters fixed new chain-plates to the main fhrouds, and one to the fore fhrouds, in the place of those which had been broken in the fquall during the night. This was another occafion on which it was impoffible not to regret the want of a forge and iron. Thurfd. 7. Friday 8. Saturd. 9. The gale continued in this direction till eight in the morning of the 7th, when it returned to the N. W. with unfettled weather. On the 8th, it came to fouth, and this was a fine day, the first we had feen after our leaving the Streight of Magellan. Our latitude at noon was 36° 39′ S., and we were about five degrees to the westward of Cape Pillar. The next day we made 1767. May. made the island of Mafafuero, and on the 10th, the island of Juan Fernandes: in the afternoon we got close to the eastermoft part of it, and Sunday 10. foon after hauled round the north end, and opened Cumberland Bay. As I did not know that the Spaniards had fortified this island, I was greatly surprised to fee a confiderable number of men about the beach, with a house and four pieces of cannon near the water-fide and a fort about three hundred yards farther from the fea, just upon the rifing of the hill, with Spanish colours flying on the top of it. This fort, which is faced with stone, has eighteen or twenty ernbrafures, and within it a long house, which I supposed to be barracks for the garrison: five and twenty or thirty houfes of different kinds are fcattered round it, and we faw much cattle feeding on the brow of the hills, which feemed to be cultivated, as many spots were divided by enclosures from each other; we faw alfo two large boats lying on the beach. The gufts of wind which came right out of this bay, prevented my going fo near as I intended, for they were fo violent as to oblige us many times to let fly our top-fail sheets, though the fails were close reefed; and I think it is impoffible to work a ship into this bay when the wind blows hard from the fouthward. As we stood cross the bay to the weftward, one of the boats put off from the shore, and rowed towards us; but perceiv |