Our design being thus disappointed, all our men became much discontented, and were for going home, seeing we could do no good in these parts, either for ourselves or owners; our ship also being ready to fall in pieces of herself, and having provisions only for three months at short allowance. Captain Dampier requested that we would consent to prolong our cruize for six weeks longer; after which he promised to permit us to sail for India to some factory, where we might all dispose of ourselves as we thought best for our advantage. To this we all agreed, and we accordingly cruized along shore to the S.E. in sight of land, passing the noted ports of Acapulco, Puerto de los Angelos, Guatalco, and several others; when we proposed to seek out a proper place in which to water our ships and bark, previous to our intended voyage to the East Indies; and, after some consideration, the Gulf of Amapalla or Fonseca was fixed upon for that purpose.
On the 5th January, 1705, we met with such vast quantities of fish, that in half an hour we caught near three score albicores, from sixty to ninety pounds weight each, besides vast quantities of other fish. The albicore is about four or five feet long, weight from 50 to 100 and even 150 pounds. It has eleven fins on its back, one pretty large, a second of middle size, and nine small yellow fins near the tail; one large fin on each side near the gills; and one near the middle of the belly. This is a very fleshy fish, having hardly any bones besides the back bone, and is extraordinary good eating. It has prodigious strength, while in the water, and preys mostly on flying fish, as do dolphins and bonetoes. On the 6th of this month, a new revolution took place in our affairs, as thirty of our men agreed to remain along with Captain Dampier in the South Sea; but with what view or on what terms, we others, who were not in the secret, never knew. Our company, who were not of Dampier's party, consisted of thirty-three men; and, notwithstanding this new arrangement, we all sailed to the Gulf of Amapalla, where we anchored on the 26th January.
That same day, all the remaining provisions were equally divided between the two companies by the agent for the owners, and we had four pieces of cannon, with a proper proportion of small arms and ammunition, assigned for us, for our defence during the voyage to India. Our next care was to take in water, for which purpose we landed on the island of Conchagua; and after some search, we found a large bottom behind the hills, in which was a large plantain walk, and a large reservoir of rain water, which came from the mountains. This was very inconvenient, as we were forced to carry all our water over a high hill, which we could hardly climb by ourselves; but there was no alternative, and we set to work to cut down the bushes in our way, to make a clear path. After this, as the hill was very steep on the land side towards the bottom whence we had to fetch water, we cut steps in the hill with axes and shovels; and our sail-maker made a hose or canvass pipe of ninety fathoms long, which carried the water from the top of the hill down to our water cask at its foot towards the sea. We then fell to work, each man having a six gallon keg, in which the water was carried to the top of the hill, where it was emptied into the hose. We were thus employed four days, in which time we filled twenty-six tons, which we carried on board. The 31st January, we all went to the plantain walk, where we cut down as many plantains as we could carry, with which we returned on board our ship, meaning to set sail next day.
This evening, two of the men who had agreed to remain with Captain Dampier, left him and came over to us, so that our number was now thirty-five, viz. thirty-four English, and a little negro boy we had taken from the Spaniards. While we were employed in watering our bark, the men on board the St George were busied in refitting that ship as well as they could; the carpenter stopping up the shot-holes in the powder-room with tallow and charcoal, not daring, as he said, to drive a nail, for fear of making it worse. The four great guns, which usually stood between decks, were put down into the hold, there being sixteen besides, which was more than they now had men to manage, as there only remained twenty-eight men and boys with Captain Dampier, who were mostly landsmen, a very insignificant force indeed with which to make war on a whole nation.
SECTION II.
Sequel of the Voyage of William Funnell, after his Separation from Captain Dampier.
We left the Gulf of Amapalla on the 1st February, 1705, where Captain Dampier remained at anchor in the St George, having a fine gale of wind at N.E. While in any of the harbours on the coast of Mexico, we were seldom allowed any thing except flour, only that we used to go on shore, and found on the rocks plenty of concks, oysters, muscles, and other shell-fish, on which we made many a hearty meal. Being now bound, as we hoped, for a land of plenty, we bore hunger and short commons with great patience, of which we had much need, as our allowance was no more than half a pound of coarse flour a day to each man, and two ounces of salt meat every other day. Our vessel was a small bark of about seventy tons with two masts, which we had taken from the Spaniards, which was so eaten with worms while in the Gulf of Amapalla, that she already began to grow very leaky. To add to our distress, we had no carpenter, neither had we a doctor or any medicines, if any of us happened to fall sick, and we had no boat to aid us if our vessel should fail. The carpenter, doctor, and boat being all left with Captain Dampier. Yet, trusting to God's providence, who had already delivered us out of so many dangers, we proceeded on our voyage to India; and a bolder attempt was perhaps never made by such a handful of men in so frail a bark, and nothing but our anxious desire to revisit our native country could have supported us under all the difficulties and dangers of this extensive voyage.
The prospect of our difficulties gave us spirit and resolution to provide against them; and in a council, which we held on this occasion, we determined on the course we were to pursue, and the allowance of provisions during the course. We knew the wind we now had was merely a land breeze, and that by running 100 leagues out to sea we should fall in with the regular trade-wind, which blows always N.E. or E.N.E. our first purpose was, therefore, to get into the latitude of 13° N. which is that of Guam, and then to bear away before the wind in that parallel. This resolution was formed on the 2d February, all which day and most of the ensuing night we had fine calm weather, and caught abundance of yellow-tails, which swam about the vessel. This fish is about four feet long, having twenty fins on its back; a middling one behind the head, a large one on the middle of the back, and eighteen small ones between that and the tail. It has a large fin on each side near the gills, and thirteen under the belly, viz. a middling one under the gills, a large one near the middle of the belly, which goes in with a dent, and eleven small ones between that and the tail, which is yellow and half-mooned. This fish has a very great head, with large eyes, and is good eating, having no bones except the back-bone. It is all white, except the tips of the fins and the tail, which, are yellow. These fish were very acceptable to us, as we fed upon them for three days, saving our other provisions. On the 3d February, five or six turtles came near our bark, two of which we caught, which also served to save our scanty store of provisions, which otherwise had not sufficed to keep us from starving.
On the evening of the 3d February, having a brisk gale from the land at N.E. we took our departure from Mount St Miguel in the Gulf of Amapalla, steering S.W. and S.S.W. till we were in the lat. of 10° N. when falling in with the tradewind, we set our course W.N.W. we then made studding-sails to our main and main-top sails, which we hoisted every morning at day-break, and hauling down at sun-set, as it commonly blew so fresh in the night that we had usually to furl our top-sail; but the wind commonly abated at sun-rise. During our whole voyage we steadily adhered to the rule of diet we had laid down, the slenderness of which may be judged of by the following particulars.
From the 3d of February to the end of that month, we fed entirely on plantains, making two meals a day, and allowing two plantains to each man for a meal. We had then recourse to our flour, of which half a pound was allowed daily to each man, and two ounces every other day of salt beef or pork; but the meat had been so long in salt, that it shrunk one half when boiled, wherefore we concluded it was better to eat it raw, which we did as long as it lasted. By the beginning of April that began to fail, so that we were reduced to flour alone, which was sore spoiled, being full of maggots, spiders, and other vermin, so that nothing but the extremity of want could have induced us to eat it. It was surprising to behold this strange alteration in the flour, which only a few days before was white and fine, and was now in a manner all alive, the maggots tumbling over each other in prodigious numbers. On strict enquiry, these maggots seemed to proceed from the eggs of spiders deposited among the flour, out of which the maggots were bred, and then fed voraciously on the flour. Words can only faintly describe the miseries of our situation, which was somewhat alleviated by work, and our spirits were buoyed up by the hopes of accomplishing our long and difficult voyage. Some occasional assistance we derived by now and then catching a dolphin. At other times we saw many sea fowl, such as boobies, noddies, and others, which would come and perch on some part of our rigging, and happy was he that could catch one. In this manner we spent ten weeks, at the end of which we were in a very melancholy condition, and nothing but the hope of seeing land could possibly keep us from despair.