I now found myself under many difficulties as to the course we were to pursue, because the company knew well enough that there was no necessity of going farther than the lat. of 13° N. for going to the East Indies. I had therefore to represent the advantage of cleaning and repairing our ship at Porto Segnro, in California, and I had much difficulty to persuade them. I at last brought them to my purpose, when we sailed from Cano northwards. Having inconstant gales and bad weather, we went between seventy and eighty leagues out to sea, in hopes of meeting more settled weather. When at sixty leagues from the land, the winds still continued variable, but at between seventy and eighty, they settled at E.N.E. and N.E. at which distance we continued till in lat. 20° N. not being sensible of any currents in all that distance, and being also entirely out of the way of the frightful ripplings and overfalls of water which we used frequently to meet with nearer the land. These used often to alarm us when becalmed in deep water, hearing a noise as of the fall of water in passing through a bridge, a considerable time before it came up to us, and which afterwards passed us at a very great rate. All the effect this had on the ship, was to make her answer the helm wildly, if we had any wind; and when we happened to meet any of these moving waters very near the shore, we could not perceive that we either gained or lost ground, though we sometimes continued in them for a quarter of an hour. I have seen these overfalls to come both from the eastward and the westward. By getting well out to sea, we not only got clear of these inconveniences, but also were out of the way of the vandevals, or black season, which had already begun on the coast; for at Cano, and in going there, we felt very hard gusts, with black rolling water, frequent and violent thunder and lightning, and heavy showers of rain.
In this passage we were continually accompanied by vast shoals of fish, as dolphins, bonitas, albicores, and angel-fish. These last are shaped like salmon, and have scales like them, but have tails like dolphins, and nearly resemble them when, in the water, appearing in all the beautiful colours displayed by the dolphin. Besides, they are the best for eating of any fish that swim near the surface. We were continually pestered with flocks of the birds called boobies, and their intolerably stinking dung proved an indescribable nuisance, in spite of all the pains that could be taken to clean our decks, yards, and tops. We reached the islands of Tres Marias in the beginning of August, but could see no signs of Captain Clipperton having been there. We were also disappointed in our expectation of procuring water; as, after the strictest search we could make in all the three islands, nothing like a spring could be found, though former writers mention their having found water in abundance. After spending three days in our ineffectual search for water in these islands, I thought it best to stand over for the main land of California, as well for procuring what was wanting to our ship, as in hopes of meeting once more with the Success.