A voyage round the world in the years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV

by Baron George Anson Anson

But these gloomy suggestions were at length happily ended: for our boats returned on the 5th of April, having about seven miles to the westward of the rocks of Seguataneio met with a place fit for our purpose, and which, by the description they gave of it, appeared to be the port of Chequetan, mentioned by Dampier. The success of our boats was highly agreeable to us, and they were ordered out again the next day, to sound the harbour and its entrance, which they had represented as very narrow. At their return they reported the place to be free from any danger, so that on the 7th we stood for it, and that evening came to an anchor in eleven fathom. The Gloucester cast anchor at the same time with us, but the Carmelo and the Carmin having fallen to the leeward, the Tryal's prize was ordered to join them, and to bring them up, which in two or three days she effected.

Thus, after a four months' continuance at sea from the leaving of Quibo, and having but six days' water on board, we arrived in the harbour of Chequetan, the description of which, and of the adjacent coast, shall be the business of the ensuing chapter.

CHAPTER XII

DESCRIPTION OF THE HARBOUR OF CHEQUETAN, AND OF THE
ADJACENT COAST AND COUNTRY

The harbour of Chequetan, which we here propose to describe, lies in the latitude of 17° 36' north, and is about thirty leagues to the westward of Acapulco. It is easy to be discovered by any ship that will keep well in with the land, especially by such as range down the coast from Acapulco, and will attend to the following particulars.

There is a beach of sand, which extends eighteen leagues from the harbour of Acapulco to the westward, against which the sea breaks so violently that with our boats it would be impossible to land on any part of it, but yet the ground is so clean that during the fair season ships may anchor in great safety at the distance of a mile or two from the shore. The land adjacent to this beach is generally low, full of villages, and planted with a great number of trees, and on the tops of some small eminencies there are several lookout towers, so that the face of the country affords a very agreeable prospect: for the cultivated part, which is the part here described, extends some leagues back from the shore, where it seems to be bounded by a chain of mountains which stretch to a considerable distance on either side of Acapulco. It is a most remarkable particularity that in this whole extent, containing in appearance the most populous and best planted district of the whole coast, there should be neither canoes, boats, nor any other embarkations, either for fishing, coasting, or for pleasure. This cannot be imputed to the difficulty of landing, because in many parts of Africa and Asia, where the same inconvenience occurs, the inhabitants have provided against it by vessels of a peculiar fabric. I therefore conceive that the government, to prevent smuggling, have prohibited the use of all kinds of small craft in that district.

The beach here described is the surest guide to those who are desirous of finding the harbour of Chequetan, for five miles to the westward of the extremity of this beach there appears a hummock, which at first makes like an island, and is in shape not very unlike the hill of Petaplan, hereafter mentioned, though much smaller. Three miles to the westward of this hummock is a white rock near the shore which cannot easily be passed by unobserved. It is about two cables'-length from the land, and lies in a large bay, about nine leagues over. The west point of this bay is the hill of Petaplan, with the view of the islands of Quicara and Quibo. This hill of Petaplan, like the forementioned hummock, may be at first mistaken for an island, though it be in reality a peninsula, which is joined to the continent by a low and narrow isthmus, covered over with shrubs and small trees. The bay of Seguataneio extends from this hill a great way to the westward, and it appears by a plan of the bay of Petaplan, which is part of that of Seguataneio, that at a small distance from the hill, and opposite to the entrance of the bay, there is an assemblage of rocks which are white from the excrements of boobies and tropical birds. Four of these rocks are high and large, and together with several smaller ones, are, by the help of a little imagination, pretended to resemble the form of a cross, and are called the White Friars. These rocks, as appears by the plan, bear W. by N. from Petaplan, and about seven miles to the westward of them lies the harbour of Chequetan, which is still more minutely distinguished by a large and single rock that rises out of the water a mile and an half distant from the entrance, and bears S.½W. from the middle of it. To these directions I must add that the coast is no ways to be dreaded between the middle of October and the beginning of May, nor is there then any danger from the winds, though in the remaining part of the year there are frequent and violent tornadoes, heavy rains, and hard gales in all directions of the compass.

Such are the infallible marks by which the harbour of Chequetan may be known to those who keep well in with the land. But as to those who keep at any considerable distance from the coast, there is no other method to be taken for finding the place than that of making it by the latitude, for there are so many ranges of mountains rising one upon the back of another within land, that no drawings of the appearance of the coast can be at all depended on when off at sea, every little change of distance or variation of position bringing new mountains in view, and producing an infinity of different prospects, which render all attempts of delineating the aspect of the coast impossible.