The East End Of The Island Is A High Land Like A
Saddle, Having A Valley Which Gives It That Appearance; While The West
End Is Lower, With Several Small Round Hillocks[227].
Porto Santo is in
about lat.
33 deg. N. The same day at 11 o'clock A.M. we raised the island
of Madeira, which is 12 leagues S.W. from Porto Santo. Madeira is a fine
and fertile island belonging to the Portuguese, and rises from afar like
one great high mountain. By 3 P.M. being athwart of Porto Santo, we set
our course to the S.W. leaving both Madeira and Porto Santo to the
eastwards, being the first land we had seen after leaving England. About
three next morning we were abreast of Madeira, within three leagues of
its west end, and were becalmed under its high land. We estimated having
run 30 leagues in the past day and night. The 4th we remained becalmed
under the west end of Madeira till 1 P.M. when the wind sprung up at
east, and we continued our course S.W. making in the rest of that day 15
leagues. The 5th we ran 15 leagues.
[Footnote 226: Hakluyt, II. 480, Astl. I. 150. - From several passages in
this journal it appears that Towerson had been on the former voyage to
Guinea with Captain Lock; but in the present voyage he appears to have
acted as captain or chief director, and seems to have been the author of
the journal here adopted from Hakluyt. - Astl. I. 150, 2.]
[Footnote 227: The saddle-backed hills of old navigators, are to be
considered in reference to the old demipique or war-saddle, having high
abrupt peaks, or hummocks, at each end, with a flattish hollow
between. - E.]
The 6th in the morning we got sight of _Teneriffe_, otherwise called the
Peak, being very high land, with a peak on the top like a sugar loaf;
and the same night we got sight of _Palma_, which also is high land and
W. from Teneriffe [W.N.W.] The 7th we saw _Gomera_, an island about 12
leagues S.E. from Palma, and eight W.S.W. from Teneriffe; and lest we
might have been becalmed under Teneriffe, we left both it and Gomera to
the east, and passed between Palma and Gomera. This day and night our
course was 30 leagues. These islands, called the Canaries, are 60
leagues from Madeira, and there are other three islands in the group to
the eastward of Teneriffe, named _Gran Canarea_, _Fuertaventura_, and
_Lancerota_, none of which we saw. All these islands are inhabited by
Spaniards. On this day likewise we got sight of the Isle of _Ferro_,
which is 13 leagues south from Gomera, and belongs to the Spaniards like
the others. We were unable all this day or the following night to get
beyond Ferro, unless we had chosen to go to the westwards, which had
been much out of our proper course; wherefore we put about, and stood
back five hours E.N.E. in hope of being able to clear it next tack, the
wind keeping always S.E. which is not often met with in that latitude by
navigators, as it generally keeps in the N.E. and E.N.E. Next morning,
being on the other tack, we were nearly close in with the island, but
had room enough to get clear past.
The 8th, our due course to fetch the Barbary coast being S.E. by E. we
were unable to keep it by reason of the wind being scant, but lay as
near it as we could, running that day and night 25 leagues. The 9th we
ran 30 leagues; the 10th 25; and 11th, 24 leagues. The 12th we saw a
sail under our lee, which we thought to be a fishing bark, and stood
down to speak with her; but in an hour there came on so thick a fog that
we could neither see that vessel nor our consort the Hind. We
accordingly shot off several guns to give notice to the Hind of our
situation, but she did not hear or answer us. In the afternoon the Hind
fired a gun, which we heard and answered with another gun. About half an
hour afterwards the fog cleared away, and we were within four leagues of
the Barbary coast, when sounding we had 14 fathoms water. The bark also
had come _room_[228] with us, and anchored here likewise, the wind being
contrary for going down the coast, or to the southwards. On falling in
with the land, we could not judge precisely whereabout we were, most of
that coast being low, the forepart of the coast being white like chalk
or sand, _and very deep unto the hard shore_[229]. Immediately on coming
to anchor we began to fish, and got abundance of that kind which the
Portuguese call _Pergosses_, the French _saders_, and our men salt-water
_breams_. Before the fog entirely cleared away, the vessel we had
followed shaped such a course that we lost sight of her, chiefly because
we had bore up to find the Hind again. Our pilot reckoned that we were
upon that part of the coast which is 16 leagues eastwards[230] from the
Rio del Oro.
[Footnote 228: This antiquated nautical word, which occurred before in
the journal of Don Juan de Castro, is here obviously going down the
wind, large, or to leeward. - E.]
[Footnote 229: The meaning of this passage is not obvious, and seems to
want some words to make out the meaning: It may be that the shore is
very steep, or that the water continues deep close to the shore. - E.]
[Footnote 230: Eastwards from Rio del Oro is directly into the land; so
that they must either have been N.N.E. or S.S.W. probably the
former. - E.]
In the afternoon of the 13th we spied a sail coming towards us, which we
judged to be that we had seen the day before, and we immediately caused
the Hind to weigh anchor and go towards her, manning likewise our own
skiff, to lay her on board or to learn what she was, and within half an
hour we weighed also.
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