We proceeded in our voyage, without any remarkable incident, till Sunday the 7th of September, when, about eight o'clock in the morning, we saw the island of Porto Santo, bearing west; and about noon, saw the east end of the island of Madeira.
About five o'clock we ran between this end of the island and the Deserters. On the side next the Deserters is a low flat island, and near it a needle rock; the side next to Madeira is full of broken rocks, and for that reason it is not safe to come within less than two miles of it.
At six in the evening we anchored in Madeira road, about two-thirds of a mile from the shore, in twenty-four fathom, with a muddy bottom: About eight the Swallow and Prince Frederick also came to an anchor; and I sent an officer on shore to the governor, to let him know that I would salute him, if he would return an equal number of guns, which he promised to do; the next morning, therefore, at six o'clock, I saluted him with thirteen guns, and he returned thirteen as he had promised.
Having taken in a proper quantity of water at this place, with four pipes and ten puncheons of wine, some fresh beef, and a large quantity of onions, we weighed anchor on the 12th, and continued our voyage.
At six-o'clock in the morning of Tuesday the 16th, we saw the island of Palma, and found the ship fifteen miles to the southward of her reckoning. As we were sailing along this island, at the rate of no less than eight miles an hour, with the wind at east, it died away at once; so that within less than two minutes the ship had no motion, though we were at least four leagues distant from the shore. Palma lies in lat. 28° 40' N. long. 17° 48' W.
On the 20th we tried the current, and found it set S.W. by W. one mile an hour. This day we saw two herons flying to the eastward, and a great number of bonnettos about the ship, of which we caught eight.
In the night between the 21st and 22d we lost our companion the Swallow, and about eight in the morning we saw the island of Sal, bearing S. 1/2 W., at noon it bore S. 1/4 W. distant eight leagues; and at noon on the 23d, the nearest land of the island of Bonavista here from S. to W.S.W. distant seven or eight miles, the east end, at the same time, bearing W. distant two leagues. In this situation we sounded, and had only fifteen fathom, with rocky ground; at the same time we saw a very great rippling, which we supposed to be caused by a reef, stretching off the point about E.S.E. three miles, and the breakers without us, distant also about three miles in the direction of S.E. We steered between the rippling and the breakers, but after hauling the ship off about half a mile, we had no soundings. The Prince Frederick passed very near the breakers, in the S.E., but had no soundings; yet these breakers are supposed to be dangerous. The middle of the isle of Sal is in lat. 16° 55' N. long. 21° 59' W.; the middle of Bonavista is in lat. 16° 10' long. 23° W.
On the next day, at six in the morning, the isle of May bore from W. to S.W. six leagues; and soon after the Swallow again joined company. At half an hour after ten the west end of the isle of May bore north at the distance of five miles, and we found a current here, setting to the southward at the rate of twenty miles in four-and-twenty hours. The latitude of this island is 15° 10' N. longitude 22° 25' W.
At noon the south end of the island of St Iago bore S.W. by W. distant four leagues; and the north end N.W. distant five leagues. At half an hour after three we anchored in Port Praya, in that island, in company with the Swallow and Prince Frederick, in eight fathom water, upon sandy ground. We had much rain and lightning in the night, and early in the morning I sent to the commanding officer at the fort, for leave to get off some water, and other refreshments, which he granted.
We soon learnt that this was the sickly season, and that the rains were so great as to render it extremely difficult to get any thing down from the country to the ships: It happened also, unfortunately, that the small-pox, which is extremely fatal here, was at this time epidemic; so that I permitted no man to go ashore who had not had that distemper, and I would not suffer even those that had to go into any house.