Next day some letters from the marquis were intercepted,
which were by no means conformable to the strict honour to which the
Spanish nobility usually pretend, as they were meant to stir up the
inhabitants of Velas to surprise the men belonging to Captain
Clipperton, and to seize his boat when it went ashore for water. Upon
this Captain Clipperton confined the marquis for some days; yet allowed
him and his lady to go ashore on the 20th, leaving their only child as
an hostage; and soon after the prize was restored to her captain.
[Footnote 237: The circumstance here alluded to no where appears in the
narratives of any of the former circumnavigations. - E.]
[Footnote 238: Perhaps Velas point is here meant, in lat. 10 deg. 9' N. on
the coast of that province of Mexico called Corta Rica. - E.]
On the 14th April, the marquis and his lady came on board, accompanied
by the alcalde, and an agreement being made for their ransom, the lady
and child were sent ashore, and the marquis remained as sole hostage. In
the whole of this transaction, Clipperton seems to have been outwitted
by the marquis, who lately broke his word, and by this the crew of the
Success were provoked to murmur against their captain for trusting him.
On the 20th of April, the Success anchored in the Gulf of Amapala, or
Fouseca, in lat.
