Chapter VIII.
Four other desert islands are sighted, and what else happened.
Steering W.N.W., on the following day, we sighted an island about 6 leagues off, and presently another, and then two more, and at none of the four was there bottom or port. There are reefs and shoals almost continuous. The distance from one to the other was four or five leagues, and from the City of the Kings 1,050. Their latitude is 20°, and they were named Las cuarto coronadas.[1]
The Captain, considering that on all these seven newly-discovered islands neither a port nor water could be found, and finding that there were fewer water-jars than he ordered to be embarked, he made some discourses with respect to the time and the present state of affairs, and deemed it necessary to reduce, as he did reduce, the allowance of water. Twelve or fifteen jars of water that were consumed each day he reduced to three or four jars. He was present when it was served out, saw the hatchway closed, and kept the keys.
Presently he ordered a brick oven to be built over one of the hearths, in order to make sweet water from sea water, with a copper instrument he had with him, by means of distillation. They got two or three jars full every day, very good and wholesome. On the least productive day there was a jar and a-half, and altogether fifty jars. This invention, with certain improvements, promises, with little expenditure of fuel, to turn out in fifteen hours eight, nine, and ten jars of fresh water, and more if it is necessary.[2]
This was Ash Wednesday. Our Father Commissary gave ashes to every person on board the ship. The course was W.N.W., and at a distance of 75 leagues from the four isles astern we sighted another small island to the N.E., but could not approach owing to being to windward. We judged its latitude to be 18° 30′. It received the name of San Miguel. Owing to threatening weather and darkness, we were hove to this night with all the ships.
[1] Torres calls them “Las Virgenes.”
[2] This is a very early notice of the use of a method of obtaining fresh water by condensing.