At Length A Formal Treaty Was Begun, In Which I Demanded
16,000 Dollars For The Ransom Of The St Fermin Alone, While They Offered
Only 12,000 For Both The Ships And The Bark.
Finding all his Spanish
puncto tended only to entrap us, I set fire to the Solidad, one of our
prizes; and, giving them time to comply with my proposals it they would,
I set the St Fermin also on fire.
We sailed from the bay of Conception on the 7th January, 1720, intending
for Juan Fernandez; and on the 8th we observed the sea to be entirely of
a red colour, occasioned, as the Spaniards say, by the spawn of the
camarones, or pracous. On the 9th, the plunder taken in the St Fermin
was sold by the ship's agent at the mart, and brought extravagant
prices. The account being taken, and the shares calculated, the people
insisted for an immediate distribution, which was made accordingly, and
each foremast-man had after the rate of ten dollars a share, in money
and goods. On the 11th we saw the island of Juan Fernandez; and at noon
it bore from us five leagues W.S.W. the meridional distance from
Conception being 275 miles[264] W. From that day to the 15th, I stood
off and on, waiting for my boats which were employed in fishing. In this
time I sent the Mercury ashore to stop her leaks, while the boats caught
so many fish, that we salted the fill of five puncheons.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 731 of 825
Words from 198720 to 198976
of 224764
