CHAP. XVIII.
Adventures of Swan and Townley on the Coast of New Spain, until their Separation.
Swan and Townley. The South Sea adventures of the buccaneer Chief Davis being brought to a conclusion, the next related will be those of Swan and his crew in the Cygnet, they being the first of the Buccaneers who after the battle in the Bay of Panama left the South Sea. William Dampier who was in Swan's ship, kept a Journal of their proceedings, which is published, and the manuscript also has been preserved.
1685. August. Swan and Townley, the reader may recollect, were left by Edward Davis in the harbour of Ria Lexa, in the latter part of August 1685, and had agreed to keep company together Westward towards the entrance of the Gulf of California.
Bad Water, and Unhealthiness of Ria Lexa. They remained at Ria Lexa some days longer to take in fresh water, 'such as it was,' and they experienced from it the same bad effects which it had on Davis's men; for, joined to the unwholesomeness of the place, it produced a malignant fever, by which several were carried off.
September. On the Coast of New Spain. On September the 3d, they put to sea, four sail in company, i. e. the Cygnet, Townley's ship, and two tenders; the total of the crews being 340 men.
Tornadoes. The season was not favourable for getting Westward along this coast. Westerly winds were prevalent, and scarcely a day passed without one or two violent tornadoes, which were accompanied with frightful flashes of lightning, and claps of thunder, 'the like,' says Dampier, 'I did never meet with before nor since.' These tornadoes generally came out of
the NE, very fierce, and did not last long. When the tornado was passed, the wind again settled Westward. On account of these storms, Swan and Townley kept a large offing; but towards the end of the month, the weather became settled. On the 24th, Townley, and 106 men in nine canoes, went on Westward, whilst the ships lay by two days with furled sails, to give them time to get well forward, by which they would come the more unexpectedly upon any place along the coast.