41' W.[183] As The Manilla Ship Is Obliged To Make This Point On Her Voyage To Acapulco, We Took

Up a station here with our four ships in such a manner that we judged she could hardly escape us;

But as we were in want of provisions, fifty or sixty men were sent in a bark beyond the cape to endeavour to get some. They returned, however, on the 17th, not having been able to double the cape, but left forty-six men in four canoes, who intended to attempt to get beyond by rowing.

[Footnote 183: It is only in long. 105 deg. 88' W. from Greenwich; that in the text, from computation or dead reckoning, being considerably erroneous in excess. - E.]

The 18th December we sailed to the isles of Chametly, eighteen leagues to the east of Cape Corientes. These are five small low and woody islands, surrounded with rocks, and lying in form of a half-moon a mile from the shore, having safe anchorage in the intermediate space. These isles are inhabited by fishers, who are servants to some of the inhabitants of Purification, a considerable town or city fourteen leagues up the country.[184] We anchored at these isles on the 20th, and here provided ourselves with wood and water, and caught great abundance of rock-fish. Next day sixty of our men were sent under Captain Townley to surprise an Indian village, seven or eight leagues to the N.W.

[Footnote 184: Villa de la Purificacion is considerably to the S.E. of Cape Corientes, but the isles of Chametly are omitted in modern maps. Puerto de Navidad, in lat.

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