We sailed from the bay of Conception on the 7th January, 1720, intending for Juan Fernandez; and on the 8th we observed the sea to be entirely of a red colour, occasioned, as the Spaniards say, by the spawn of the camarones, or pracous. On the 9th, the plunder taken in the St Fermin was sold by the ship's agent at the mart, and brought extravagant prices. The account being taken, and the shares calculated, the people insisted for an immediate distribution, which was made accordingly, and each foremast-man had after the rate of ten dollars a share, in money and goods. On the 11th we saw the island of Juan Fernandez; and at noon it bore from us five leagues W.S.W. the meridional distance from Conception being 275 miles[264] W. From that day to the 15th, I stood off and on, waiting for my boats which were employed in fishing. In this time I sent the Mercury ashore to stop her leaks, while the boats caught so many fish, that we salted the fill of five puncheons. I could find no marks of Captain Clipperton having been here for a long time; but at length some of my men saw accidentally the words Magee and Captain John cut upon a tree. Magee was the name of Clipperton's surgeon, but no directions were left, as agreed upon in his instructions to me, so that it was evident he never meant I should keep him company, or ever join him again.
[Footnote 264: The difference of longitude between Conception and Juan Fernandez is six degrees of longitude W. and, consequently, 360 minutes or marine miles.--E.]
Being by this certified of the arrival of Clipperton in the South Sea, I directly made the best of my way from Juan Fernandez, being in a pretty good condition as to provisions, by the additional stock of fish caught here, all our casks being filled. On the 21st, while sailing along there with the design of looking into Copiapo, I put Mr Dodd, second lieutenant of marines, into the Mercury, with a reinforcement of eight men, and sent her next evening to cruize close in with the land, while I kept with the Speedwell in the offing, to prevent being discovered from the land. On this occasion I took care to give the officer commanding the Mercury a copy of my commission, with all necessary instructions how to proceed, appointing the Moro, or head-land of Copiapo, to be our place of meeting. The business of the Mercury was to look into the port of Copiapo, called Caldera,[265] near which there are some gold-mines, and from whence considerable quantities of gold are exported in small vessels; and our bark had the advantage of being of that country build, so that she could not excite suspicion. Next day I hove in sight of the head-land of Copiapo, and lay to the southward, that I might not be seen from that port, which is to the northward of the Moro de Copiapo. While here, opposite a small island which lies athwart the mouth of Copiapo river, I sent the pinnace to fish between that isle and the main, and soon after saw a vessel crowding all sail towards us. She at first seemed too large for the Mercury, yet turned out to be her; when the officer told me he had looked into the port, but could see no shipping; but he had looked into a wrong place, and having made him sensible of his error, I sent him again to the right place, which was about six leagues farther north.
[Footnote 265: The port of Caldera, or English harbour, is about twelve or fifteen miles to the N. of Copiapo river, having a considerable interposed promontory.--E.]
Next morning our pinnace returned, bringing only a few penguins which she had taken on the island in the bay of Copiapo. The Mercury had looked into Caldera, but saw nothing; and instead of making use of the land-wind to come off to me, had kept along shore in the bottom of the bay till the land-wind came in so strong that she was nearly lost on the lee-shore. On the 27th, I sent Mr Brooks, my first lieutenant, and Mr Rainor, first lieutenant of marines, to relieve Mr Randal and Mr Dodd in the Mercury, which I had fitted with a gang of oars, and, upon trial, she was found to make way at the rate of three knots, which might render her extremely useful in a calm. The 5th February, I dispatched Mr Brooks ahead in the Mercury, to see if there were any ships in the harbour of Arica, in lat. 18° 26' S. and next day, at one p.m. having ranged along shore, by the breakers of Pisagua, Camarones, and Victor, I got sight of the head-land of Arica, with a ship at anchor on its northern side, and saw the Mercury standing out of the bay, by which I judged the ship was too warm for her, and therefore made all haste to get up to her with the Speedwell. On coming up, we found that the ship was already taken, and the Mercury only accidentally adrift. This prize was called the Rosario, of 100 tons, laden with cormorants dung, which they use for manuring the land which produces the cod-pepper, or Capsicum, from the cultivation of which they make a vast profit in the vale of Arica. The only white face in this ship was the pilot, whom I sent ashore to see if the owner would ransom his ship, the cargo being worth gold to them, but entirely useless to us. Next morning I received a letter from Miguel Diaz Gonzale, the owner of the ship, insisting pitifully on his poverty and distress, having a large family to provide for, and promising to meet me at Hilo or Quaco, to treat for a ransom.
We soon after took a small bark of ten tons, laden with guana, or cormorants dung, and having also some dried fish, which lay within a mile of Arica. By this time all the adjacent country was up in arms, and great numbers had come down to the coast, well mounted and armed, and seemingly well disciplined. To try their courage, I ordered the Mercury and launch to draw near the shore, as if we had really intended to land, though the landing-place here is altogether impracticable for European boats; and I also cannonaded the town briskly. Our balls made no execution, yet ploughed up the sand in front of the Spanish horse, throwing it all over them: But neither this, nor the approach of my small craft, made any impression, for they stood firm, and at least shewed the countenance of as good troops as could be wished. This much disappointed me, as it shewed my men that the Spaniards were far from being cowards, as they had been represented. As soon as it was dark, Gonzales came off to me, and I agreed to let him have back his ship and six negroes on receiving 1500 dollars, reserving right to take any thing out of her that might be useful to us; and at ten next night he brought me the agreed sum, being the weight of 1300 dollars in ingots of virgin silver, called pinnas by the Spaniards, and the rest in coined dollars. He also made great enquiry for English commodities, for which he offered high prices, complaining that the French only supplied them with paltry goods and mere trifles, for which they carried off vast sums. He added, that he supposed the English merchants were all asleep, or too rich, as they did not come near them: And, although their ports were not so open as in other parts of the world, they yet know how to manage matters tolerably well; and that their governors, being generally Europeans, who seldom remained above three years in the country, used any means to improve their time, and could easily be gained so as to act very obligingly. He said much more as to the blindness of the English, in suffering the French pedlars to carry on, uninterruptedly, the most considerable branch of traffic in the world. Before leaving me, he desired me to carry his ship two or three leagues out to sea, and then to turn her adrift, on purpose to deceive the governor and the king's officers; and, if I would meet him at Hilo (Ilo,) about twenty-five leagues to the north-westwards, he would purchase from me any coarse goods I had to dispose of, which might be done there with all imaginable secrecy. At this time also, the master of the small bark came off in a balsa. This is an odd sort of an embarkation, consisting of two large seal skins, separately blown up, like bladders, and made fast to pieces of wood. On this he brought off two jars of brandy and forty dollars; which, considering his mean appearance, was as much as I could expect. One part of his cargo was valuable, being a considerable quantity of excellent dried fish.
The port of Arica, formerly so famous for the great quantities of silver shipped from thence, is now much diminished in its riches, and appears mostly a heap of ruins, except the church of St Mark, and two or three more, which still look tolerably well. What helps to give it a very desolate appearance is, that the houses near the sea are only covered with mats. Being situated on the sea-shore, in an open roadstead, it has no fortifications of any kind to defend or command the anchorage, the Spaniards thinking it sufficiently secured by the heavy surf, and the rocky bottom near the shore, which threaten inevitable destruction to any European boats, or other embarkation, except what is expressly contrived for the purpose, being the balsas already mentioned. To obstruct the landing of an enemy, the Spaniards had formerly a fort and entrenchments, flanking the storecreeks; but being built of unburnt bricks, it is now fallen to ruins. In 1680, when Dampier was here, being repulsed before the town, the English landed at the creek of Chacota, to the south of the head-land, whence they marched over the mountain (Gordo) to plunder Arica. Earthquakes also, which are frequent here, have at last ruined the town, and Arica is now no more than a little village of about 150 families, most of them negroes, mulattoes, and Indians, with very few whites. On the 26th November, 1605,[266] the sea, violently agitated by an earthquake, suddenly overflowed, and broke down the greatest part of the town, and the ruins of its streets are to be seen at this day. What remains of Arica is not now liable to such an accident, being situated on a little rising ground at the foot of the head-land. Most of the houses are only constructed of a sort of fascines, made of flags or sedges, bound together, called totora, set up on end, crossed by canes and leather thongs; or are made of canes set on end, having the intervals filled with earth. The use of unburnt bricks is reserved for churches and the stateliest houses; and as no rain ever falls here, they are only covered with mats, so that the houses seem all in ruins when seen from the sea. The parish church, dedicated to St Mark, is handsome enough. There are also three religious houses, one a monastery of seven or eight mercenarians, a second is an hospital of the brothers of St John of God, and the third a monastery of Franciscans, who formerly had a house a short way from town, in the pleasantest part of the vale, near the sea.
[Footnote 266: Perhaps this date ought to have been 1705.--E.]
The vale of Arica is about a league wide next the sea, all barren ground except where the old town stood, which is divided into small fields of clover, some small plantations of sugar-canes, with olive-trees and cotton-trees intermixed, and several intervening marshes, full of the sedges of which they build their houses. Growing narrower about a league eastward at the village of St Michael de Sapa, they begin to cultivate the agi, or Guinea pepper, which culture extends over all the rest of the vale, in which there are several detached farms exclusively devoted to its culture. In that part of the vale, which is very narrow, and about six leagues long, they raise yearly to the value of above 80,000 crowns. The Spaniards of Peru are so much addicted to this spice, that they dress no meat without it, although so hot and biting that no one can endure it, unless accustomed to its use; and, as it cannot grow in the Puna, or mountainous country, many merchants come down every year, who carry away all the Guinea pepper that grows in the districts of Arica, Sama, Taena, Locumba, and others, ten leagues around, from all of which it is reckoned they export yearly to the value of 600,000 dollars, though sold cheap. It is hard to credit that such vast quantities should go from hence, as the country is so parched up, except the vales, that nothing green is to be seen. This wonderful fertility is produced by the dung of fowls, which is brought from Iquique, and which fertilizes the soil in a wonderful manner, making it produce four or five hundred for one of all sorts of grain, as wheat, maize, and so forth, but particularly of this agi, or Guinea pepper, when rightly managed. When the plants are sufficiently grown in the seed-bed to be fit for transplanting, they are set out in winding lines like the letter S, that the furrows for conveying the water may distribute it equally to the roots of the plants. They then lay about the root of each plant of Guinea pepper as much guana, or bird's dung formerly mentioned, as will lie in the hollow of the hand. When in blossom, they add a little more; and, lastly, when the pods are completely formed, they add a good handful more to each plant, always taking care to supply them with water, as it never rains in this country; otherwise, the salts contained in the manure, not being dissolved, would burn the plants, as has been found by experience. It is also for this reason that this manure is laid on at different times, as already explained, the necessity of which has been found by long use, and by the superior value of the crops thus produced.
For the carriage of this guana, or fowl's dung, the people at Arica generally use that sort of little camels which the Indians of Bern call Llamas, the Chilese, Chilihneque, and the Spaniards, Carneros de la tierra, or native sheep. The heads of these animals are small in proportion to their bodies, and are somewhat in shape between the head of a horse and that of a sheep, the upper lips being cleft like that of a hare, through which they can spit to the distance of ten paces against any one who offends them, and if the spittle happens to fall on the face of a person, it causes a red itchy spot. Their necks are long, and concavely bent downwards, like that of a camel, which animal they greatly resemble, except in having no hunch on their backs, and in being much smaller. Their ordinary height is from four feet to four and a half; and their ordinary burden does not exceed an hundred-weight. They walk, holding up their heads with wonderful gravity, and at so regular a pace as no beating can quicken. At night it is impossible to make them move with their loads, for they lie down till these are taken off, and then go to graze. Their ordinary food is a sort of grass called yeho, somewhat like a small rush, but finer, and has a sharp point, with which all the mountains are covered exclusively. They eat little, and never drink, so that they are very easily maintained. They have cloven feet like sheep, and are used at the mines to carry ore to the mills; and, as soon as loaded, they set off without any guide to the place where they are usually unloaded. They have a sort of spur above the foot, which renders them sure-footed among the rocks, as it serves as a kind of hook to hold by. Their hair, or wool rather, is long, white, grey, and russet, in spots, and fine, but much inferior to that of the Vicunna, and has a strong and disagreeable scent.