The 1st May, The Andrew And Our Boats Surprised A Portuguese Ship Of 200
Tons Called The St Antonio, Which We Named The May-Flower.
Her principal
lading consisted of rice taken in at Barcelor, whence she had gone to
Goa, and sailed from thence for Ormus and Muskat on the 8th of April.
We
learnt from this prize, that Ruy Frere de Andrada was busy in repairing
his ships at Ormus, and that Don Emanuel de Azeredo had departed from
Gor fifty days before for Ormus, to reinforce Andrada with two galleons,
one of these being the same in which the viceroy was personally, when he
engaged our fleet under Captain Downton. During a calm on the 7th, we
captured a small frigate-built ship called the Jacinth, which we named
the Primrose, which had come from Mozambique and was bound for Goa.
Thence to the 13th, we had variable winds, with calms and much rain.
Finding the May-flower delayed us much, and that our pilots were either
ignorant or malicious, we resolved to trust to our own endeavours for
finding an anchoring place, for our safe riding till the strength of the
adverse monsoon was over, for which purpose we determined upon going to
Macera.[300]
[Footnote 300: From the latitude of this place, mentioned afterwards in
the text, this seems to refer to Mazica, an island about sixty miles
long and fifteen or twenty in breadth, a few miles from the oceanic
coast of Arabia, in lat. 20 deg. 48' N. and long. 57 deg. 3O' E. from
Greenwich. - E.]
We descried land on the 2d June, and anchored in seventeen fathoms three
miles offshore, in lat. 20 deg. 20' N. variation 17 deg. W. We found plenty of
water in four or five pits, three quarters of a mile from the shore. I
had forty tons from one well, which we rolled in hogsheads to the beach.
The people were tractable, but we got little else besides water. A tuft
of date trees by the watering place bore N.W. by W. from our anchorage,
and the other end of the island N.E. 1/2 E. five leagues off. The 12th
we sailed for the N.E. end of the island, and in the afternoon came to
anchor in a fair bay, having seven fathoms on clean ground, a black oozy
sand, the N.E. point bearing S. 1/2 a league off, the landing place
W.S.W. two miles off, and the north part of the bay N. by W. four miles
off. The latitude of this bay is 20 deg. 30' N. and the variation 17 deg.
W.[301] In this bay you may ride safely in any depth between five and
twelve fathoms. It is an excellently healthy place, cold and hungry,
affording no refreshments except water, enough of which is to be had by
digging pits; but it is ill to boat except at the usual landing place.
This place afforded us no better supplies than the former, except that
we got a few goats and lambs in exchange for canikens.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 435 of 474
Words from 226716 to 227237
of 247546
