The greatest difficulty was for tow-lines to draw the boats by, and those they supplied by twisting a strong tough kind of flag or rush, which they found in the river, of which, with much application and labour, they made a kind of rope-yarn, and then twisting it again, made it very strong.
This was the voiture with which they conveyed themselves quite down 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 pains, for they were obliged first to hunt and kill it, and then bring it to the camp, which, however, was always close to the river"s side.
After they had travelled thus some time, following the course of the river, they came to a place, where, on a sudden, they could see no farther bank of the river, but it looked all water, like the sea. This they could not account for; 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 the river they were on, than ran into that; but, after this, it contracted itself again, though still it was to be supposed near a mile and a half over.
They were far from being pleased at this conjunction of the waters, 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, more turbulent than it was before, and as their great float drew but little water, and swam flat upon the surface, she was ready to founder upon every occasion. This obliged them almost every night to seek for some little cove or creek to run her into, as into a harbour, to preserve her; for, when the wind blew from sh.o.r.e, they had enough to do to keep her from driving off from the river, and, when there was but little wind, yet it made a rippling or chopping of the waves, that they had much difficulty to keep them from filling her.
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 much 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 the art and industry of an European nation to a.s.sist the natural fertility of the soil, by keeping the water in its bounds, banking and fencing 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 worse for the soil, that no judgment can be made of, till some people come to settle there to whom it may 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 country about Salisbury, and some other parts.
Here they found a greater quant.i.ty 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 could 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 the latter animals is so great, which, as I have said, is greater there than at other places.
After they had feasted themselves here for some days, they resolved to begin their new kind of navigation, and to see what they could make of it; but they went very heavily along, and every now and then, as I have said, the water was too rough for them, and they were fain to put into harbour, and sometimes lie there two or three days. However, they plyed their time as well as they could, and sometimes the current setting over to their side, and running strong by the sh.o.r.e, they would go at a great rate, insomuch that one time they said they went about thirty miles in a day, having, besides the current, a little gale of wind right astern.
They reckoned that they went near two hundred miles in this manner, for they made the best of it; and at the end of these two hundred miles, it was, by their reckoning, that our five men who travelled into the country so far, found them, when they saw the hat swimming down the stream; which hat, it seems, one of them let fall overboard 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, mallard, and teal; and these, I say, increased as they drew nearer the sea.
They could give very little account of the fish which the rivers produced, though they sometimes 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 any, so they cured their meat in the sun, and seasoned it with that excellent sauce called hunger.
The account they gave of discovering our five men was thus. They had been, for two days, pretty successful in their navigation, as I have described it, but were obliged to stop, and put in at the mouth of a little river, which made them a good harbour. The reason of their stay was, they had no victuals, so by consent they all went a-hunting, and, at night, having shot two guinacoes and a deer, they went to supper together in their great tent; and, having fed heartily on such good provisions, they began to be merry, and the captain 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 the same.
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.
When the captain heard the men say it lightened, he jumped from his seat, and called aloud to them to tell which way; but they foolishly replied, to the north-west, which was the way their faces were when they saw it; but the word was no sooner spoken but the two fellows fell a-hallooing 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 flash of the rocket with the stars, which, spreading themselves in the air, shone with the usual bright light that it is known those fireworks give.
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 distant, the land went ascending up to a round crown or knoll, 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 ready; but then they fired two rockets from the adjoining hill, soon after one another, and, after that, at about ten minutes" distance of time, a third, which was just as by agreement, and was perfectly understood, the rockets performing extremely well.
Upon this they saw another single rocket rise up, which was to let them know that their former was seen and understood.
This was, you will conclude, a very joyful night, and the next morning they went all hands to work at the boats, getting out of the creek early, and made the best of their way. However, with all they could do, they could not go above twelve miles that day, for the current setting over to the other sh.o.r.e, had left them, and in some places, they would rather have an eddy stream against them, and this discouraged them a little, but, depending that they were near their port, and that their friends were not far off, they were very cheerful. At night they looked out again for rockets, the sight of which failed not to rejoice their hearts again, and with this addition, that it appeared their friends were not above four or five miles off; they answered the rockets punctually, and proceeding early the next day, they met in the morning joyfully enough, as has been said.
We were overjoyed at meeting, as may be easily conceived; but, to see the pitiful boat, or periagua, they came on board in, a little surprised us; for, indeed, it was a wonder they should be able to make it swim under them, especially when they came out into the open sea.
As soon as we had the boat in reach, we hauled it up into the ship for a relic, and, taking two of the men with us, we manned out all our ship"s boats to go and fetch the rest, for they were, as these men told us, about seventeen miles up the river still, and could not come any farther, their boats being not able to bring them along, and the river growing very broad and dangerous. The eldest of my midshipmen came in this first boat, but the captain and the other stayed with the men, who were very unruly, and frequently quarrelling and wrangling about their wealth, which, indeed, was very considerable; but they were above twice as far up the river as the men told us, having halted after the boat left them.
When our boats came to them, and took them in, I ordered they should be set on sh.o.r.e, and their tents put up there, till I had settled matters a little with them, having had an account how mutinous and fractious they had been; and I made them all stay there till 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 an anchor at in England or France; and that, at that said port, they should every man have the 100_l._ I had promised them, as above, for the undertaking this journey, delivered to them in gold dust, to that amount, and that they, alone, should have full liberty to go on sh.o.r.e with it, and go whither they would, no man whatever but themselves being allowed to set foot on sh.o.r.e in the same place, distress excepted.
This they insisted on, because they had done some things, they said, which, if I would, I might bring some of them to the gallows. However, I promised to forgive them, and to inquire 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.
But, as I had no occasion to trouble them on that score, not having been upon the spot when it was done, so, having made this capitulation with them, I performed it punctually, and set them all on sh.o.r.e, with their wealth, in the river of Garonne, in France; their own gold, their 100_l._"s worth 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 sh.o.r.e, amounted to about 400_l._ a man. How they disposed of themselves, or their money, I never gave myself the trouble to inquire, 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 farther 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 Spaniards 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 Galicia, 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 satisfied with their engagement. But, to my great grief, my particular friend, the merchant who put us upon this adventure, and who was the princ.i.p.al means of our making the discoveries that have been here mentioned and described, was dead before our return; which, if it had not happened, this new scheme of a trade round the world had, perhaps, not 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.
THE END OF THE NEW VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.