The Swiftness
Of The Current, The Fact That The Launch Had Not Returned And That Night
Was Coming On, Made
It necessary to seek for an anchorage; this was done
with great care and precaution; as the force of the
Wind made it
necessary to have full sail, it was feared that some of the rigging
might give way. For that reason, soundings were taken continually with a
20-lb. lead, and a line of sixty brazas could not reach bottom, either
in the channel or near the point. This seemed very strange until it was
realized that the current was carrying the lead and it did not strike
bottom. They continued thus until they were one league inside the mouth
of the bay and a quarter of a mile from the shore, when the wind
suddenly stopped. Finding that the current was carrying the ship towards
the mouth, an anchor was thrown overboard, after having made it fast to
the big mast so that if it did not catch the bottom it would not be
lost. It was found that the anchor held. Two more anchors were made
ready to drop in case the big one should drag. When the wind stopped and
the current ceased, the vessel was found to be in twenty-two brazas,
with sandy bottom[47].
At 6 a. m. of August 6, the launch, which had not been seen since sunset
the day before, came to the vessel. The pilot was asked why he had not
come to meet the ship when he saw her sailing shoreward looking for the
entrance of the bay, answered that at 6 p. m. he had seen a suitable
harbor for the packet-boat to the east of the entrance, and when he
attempted to go out the whirlpools and eddies caused by the current were
such that it was impossible to make any progress, as the current carried
him back towards the shore, so that he determined to stay in the harbor
he had attempted to leave.
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