We Learnt Also, That The Spaniards Had Fitted Out Two
Men Of War Against Us, One Of Thirty-Two, And
The other thirty-six brass
guns, all twenty-four pounders, each having 350 sailors and 150
soldiers, all picked men,
And had been cruizing for us in the Bay of
Guayaquil, between point St Helena and Cape Blanco, from the 7th to the
12th.
We were forced to go under an easy sail, as our prize sailed very
heavily, wherefore we went into Sardinas Bay, in lat. 1 deg. 20' N. where
we anchored with our prize in ten fathoms, about four miles from the
shore, for the purpose of rummaging her. We durst not go farther in,
because of many shoals and sand-banks, which were very imperfectly laid
down in all our charts. The sea-coast is inhabited by Indians, but not
in any great numbers, and has several small fresh-water rivers. From
hence, all the way south, till we came to the Bay of Atacarnes, in
lat. 0 deg. 54' N. the sea-side is composed of white cliffs; and there are
many shoals as far as Punta de la Galera, in lat. 0 deg. 48' N. Six
leagues S.W. of Sardinas Bay is the great river of St Jago, the mouth of
which is about three quarters of a mile wide, but has no good anchorage
till well within. This river is seldom used by ships, being out of the
way, yet the country here produces abundant provisions of all sorts. We
careened our ship and rummaged our prize in the Bay of Sardinas, and
watered at one of the fresh-water rivers, which was as white as milk,
and both smelt and tasted very strong of musk, occasioned by many
alligators swimming in it. We shot several of these creatures, one of
which measured thirty feet in length, and was bigger about than a
bullock.
The alligator is covered over with great scales from head to tail,
having very large sharp teeth, and very long claws. It is amphibious,
living both on land and in the water, and when lying on shore is often
mistaken at a distance for a great tree fallen down. It runs very fast
on the land, and is of such strength that one of them will take a horse
or a cow into the water, and there devour it. They will seize on any
thing, either on land or in the water, and often make great havock among
cattle near their haunts, which are usually in fresh-water rivers. The
Indians are not greatly afraid of them, either on land or in the water.
In the former case, they run in circles, and this unwieldy animal is
unable to turn his body quickly, so that they easily get away from them.
The Indians also go into the water to seek them, taking in one hand a
piece of iron pointed and baited at both ends, with two cross pieces a
little below the points.
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