Rock near the Anchorage. A shoal which runs out from the SE point of Quibo half a mile into the sea, has been already noticed: a league to the North of this shoal, and a mile distant from the shore, is a rock which appears above water only at the last quarter ebb. Except the shoal, and this rock, there is no other danger; and ships may anchor within a quarter of a mile of the shore, in from six to twelve fathoms clear sand and ooze[54].
They stopped at Quibo to make themselves canoes, the trees there being well suited for the purpose, and some so large that a single trunk hollowed and wrought into shape, would carry forty or fifty men. Whilst this work was performing, a strong party was sent to the main-land against Pueblo Nuevo, which town was now entered without opposition; but no plunder was obtained.
Serpents. The Serpent Berry. Lussan relates that two of the Buccaneers were killed by serpents at Quibo. He says, 'here are serpents whose bite is so venemous that speedy death inevitably ensues, unless the patient can have immediate recourse to a certain fruit, which must be chewed and applied to the part bitten. The tree which bears this fruit grows here, and in other parts of America. It resembles the almond-tree in France in height and in its leaves. The fruit is like the sea chestnut (Chataines de Mer) but is of a grey colour, rather bitter in taste, and contains in its middle a whitish almond. The whole is to be chewed together before it is applied. It is called (Graine à Serpent) the Serpent Berry.'
July. Disagreements among the Buccaneers. The dissatisfaction caused by their being foiled in the Bay of Panama, broke out in reproaches, and produced great disagreements among the Buccaneers. Many blamed Grogniet for not coming into battle the first day. On the other hand, Lussan blames the behaviour of the English, who, he says, being the greater number, lorded it over the French; that Townley, liking Grogniet's ship better than his own, would have insisted on a change, if the French had not shewn a determination to resist such an imposition. Another cause of complaint against the English was, the indecent and irreverent manner in which they shewed their hatred to the Roman Catholic religion. Lussan says, 'When they entered the Spanish churches, it was their diversion to hack and mutilate every thing with their cutlasses, and to fire their muskets and pistols at the images
of the Saints.' The French separate from the English. In consequence of these disagreements, 330 of the French joined together under Grogniet, and separated from the English.
Knight, a Buccaneer Commander, joins Davis. Before either of the parties had left Quibo, William Knight, a Buccaneer already mentioned, arrived there in a ship manned with 40 Englishmen and 11 Frenchmen. This small crew of Buccaneers had crossed the Isthmus about nine months before; they had been cruising both on the coast of New Spain and on the coast of Peru; and the sum of their successes amounted to their being provided with a good vessel and a good stock of provisions. They had latterly been to the Southward, where they learnt that the Lima fleet had sailed against the Buccaneers before Panama, which was the first notice they received of other Buccaneers than themselves being in the South Sea. On the intelligence, they immediately sailed for the Bay of Panama, that they might be present and share in the capture of the Spaniards, which they believed would inevitably be the result of a meeting. On arriving in the Bay of Panama, they learnt what really had happened: nevertheless, they proceeded to Quibo in search of their friends. The Frenchmen in Knight's ship left her to join their countrymen: Knight and the rest of the crew, put themselves under the command of Davis.
The ship commanded by Harris, was found to be in a decayed state and untenantable. Another vessel was given to him and his crew; but the whole company were so much crowded for want of ship room, that a number remained constantly in canoes. One of the canoes which they built at Quibo measured 36 feet in length, and between 5 and 6 feet in width.
Davis and the English party, having determined to attack the city of Leon in the province of Nicaragua, sent an invitation to the French Buccaneers to rejoin them. The French
had only one ship, which was far from sufficient to contain their whole number, and they demanded, as a condition of their uniting again with the English, that another vessel should be given to themselves. The English could ill spare a ship, and would not agree to the proposition; the separation therefore was final. Jean Rose, a Frenchman, with fourteen of his countrymen, in a new canoe they had built for themselves, left Grogniet to try their fortunes under Davis.