On The 5th July The Fleet Anchored In The Road Of St Vincent, Which Is
Extremely Safe And Commodious, Where They Procured Refreshments Of
Sea-Tortoises, Fish, Goats, And Oranges.
The islands of St Vincent and
St Antonio are the most westerly of the Cape Verds, being in from 16 deg.
30' to 18 deg.
N. latitude, and about two leagues from each other. The bay
of St Vincent, in which they anchored, is in lat. 16 deg. 56' N. and has a
good firm sandy bottom, with eighteen, twenty, and twenty-five fathoms
water. The island of St Vincent is rocky, barren, and uncultivated,
having very little fresh water, though they found a small spring which
might have served two or three ships. By digging wells they procured
plenty of water, but somewhat brackish, to which they attributed the
bloody flux, which soon after began to prevail in the fleet. The goats
there, of which they caught fifteen or sixteen every day, were very fat
and excellent eating. The sea-tortoises which they took there were from
two to three feet long. They come on shore to lay their eggs, which they
cover with sand, leaving them to be hatched by the heat of the sun.
Their season of laying eggs is from August to February, remaining all
the rest of the year in the sea. They caught every night great numbers
of these animals while ashore to lay their eggs, and the sailors found
them wholesome and pleasant food, eating more like flesh than fish.
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