"The 4th of March we discovered the entrance of the Strait of Magellan, and on the 7th passed through the Strait le Main, lying at the extremity of Terra del Fuego, between that and Staten Land.
"This day was remarkably warm and favourable, and though in latitude 55° 50' South, we began to look on the conquest of the Peruvian mines and principal towns in the Pacific sea as an amusement, which would naturally occur. From this time forward, we met with nothing but disasters and accidents. Never were the passions of hope and fear so powerfully agitated and exercised; the very elements seemed combined against us. I commanded the sloop at the time of the separation of the ships that returned home, being stationed to look out for islands of ice; and had to endure such fatigue from the severity of the weather, and the duty which the nature of the service necessarily brought on me, that really my life was hardly worth preserving at the expense of such hardships. Our own ships had several miraculous escapes, which, in the obscurity of the night and the violence of the weather, often endangered foundering the sloop.
"Having had the command of the sloop several weeks, I was at length superseded by her proper captain, who had recovered on board the Commodore's ship; and I returned to my post.
"During this time, the scurvy made terrible havoc among us, especially the soldiers, who, being either infirm old men or raw inexperienced youths, soon lost their spirits, grew sick and disabled, and from the stench they occasioned, contributed to infect our seamen.
"This distemper is the consequence of long voyages, and exhibits itself in such dreadful symptoms as are scarcely credible, viz. asthma, pains in the limbs and joints, blotches all over the body, ulcers, idiotism, lunacy, convulsions, and sudden death. Nor can the physicians, with all their materia medica, find a remedy for it equal to the smell of turf, grass, or a dish of greens. It is not my province to account for what is a matter of much doubt and perplexity even to the most learned, but I could plainly observe that there is a je ne sais quoi in the frame of the human system, that cannot be removed without the assistance of certain earthy particles, or, in plain English, the landsman's proper aliment, and vegetables and fruits his only physic. For the space of six weeks we seldom buried less than four or five daily, and at last it amounted to eight or ten; and I really believe, that, had we stayed ten days longer at sea, we should have lost the ship for want of men to navigate her.
"At length we arrived at the island of Juan Fernandez, in the South Sea, after having had several imminent dangers of shipwreck on the coast of Chili, off which the nature of our rendezvous required us to cruise, in hopes of rejoining the squadron.
"We anchored here on the 16th June 1741, as we subsequently learned, just ten days after the departure of a Spanish ship of war, which was sent by the Admiral of these seas to gain intelligence, himself having cruised with his squadron of four sail a considerable time, in hopes of meeting with us, well judging the condition our ships might be in. You will be surprised to hear that in a sixty gun ship, on our arrival at this island, we mustered but seventy-two persons, including officers and boys, capable of appearing on deck; the rest being all sick, having lost 228 since our leaving England, which includes nine months.
"We were joined by the Gloucester and Tryal sloop, (vide Anson's Voyage, p. 114,) the crews of which vessels had suffered still more, so that had there been an experienced enemy to have dealt with us, they might have made a very easy conquest of us all. But, 'whatever is, is right.' They gave us time to recover our spirits and rally our forces, for which we visited them afterwards and shut up their ports.
"I shall not attempt a description of this island at present, but only tell you it is the most romantic and pleasant place imaginable, abounding with myrtle trees, and covered with turnips and sorrel. Its bays, teeming with all kinds of fish, seem calculated for the reception of distressed seamen. We stayed here three months, employed in refitting our ships, and restoring the health of the sick, and this without any loss of time to us, it being the winter season, in which, from April to September, navigation is judged unsafe by the Spaniards. In the beginning of this month (September) we were agreeably surprised by the sight of a sail, to which we immediately gave chase, slipping our cable; but night intervening, we lost her. We soon after fell in with another, who was her consort, of 500 tons, and much richer, having about 18,000l. in money on board, besides a cargo, which would have been valuable (being chiefly sugar) could we have brought it to a proper market; but in these parts it is a misfortune that nothing but money is truly valuable, having no ports whereat to dispose of anything. Here I commenced captain again, in the Tryal's prize, having twelve guns, besides swivels, with thirty men, and had a separate cruise ordered me with Captain Saunders. (Vide Anson's Voyage, p. 114.) She was a ship he had taken in the sloop, which then proved so leaky and disabled in her masts by a gale of wind, that she was sunk, and her prize commissioned in her room. As nothing appeared on our station, which was to leeward of Valparaiso, we had no opportunity of exerting ourselves. We next proceeded along the coast of Peru, and took two prizes, both very valuable to the Spaniards, the one being loaded with ship timber, and the other with iron bars, but to us of no great service; by the latter, (viz. the Nuestra Senora del Carmin, 250 tons of cargo, value 400,000 dollars,) we had information of a rich vessel in the road of Paita, bound to Lousuata on the coast of Mexico, the money being still in town. This was a chance worth pursuing; and having arrived off the port in the night, we sent in all the boats manned and armed, with fifty men, surprised and took the town with scarcely any resistance or loss, except one killed and one wounded on our side; the inhabitants abandoning their houses, and retiring to the neighbouring mountains.
"This event happened on the 15th of November 1741. (Vide Anson's Voyage, p. 149.) We kept possession of the town two days and a half without any disturbance from the natives, and, having plundered it, set it on fire, but spared the two churches.