These were infallible indications that there had been a ship or ships at this place only a short time before our arrival; and, as all Spanish merchant ships are instructed to avoid this island, on account of its being the common rendezvous of their enemies, we concluded that those which had touched here must have been ships of force; and, as we knew not that Pizarro had returned to the Rio Plata, and were ignorant what strength might have been fitted out at Calao, we were under considerable apprehensions for our safety, being in so wretched and enfeebled a condition, as, notwithstanding the rank of our ship, and the sixty guns with which she was armed, there was hardly a privateer sent to sea that was not an overmatch for us.  Our fears on this head, however, fortunately proved imaginary, and we were not exposed to the disgrace which must unavoidably have befallen us, had we been reduced to the necessity, by the appearance of an enemy, of fighting our sixty-gun ship with no more than thirty hands.

While employed in cleaning our ship, and filling our water casks, we set up a large copper oven on shore, near the sick tents, in which fresh bread was baked every day for the ship’s company, as, being extremely desirous of recovering our sick as soon as possible, we believed that new bread, added to their green vegetables and fresh fish, might prove powerfully conducive to their relief.  Indeed, we had all imaginable inducements to endeavour at augmenting our present strength, as every little accident, which to a full crew would have been insignificant, was extremely alarming in our present helpless condition.  Of this we had a troublesome instance, on the 30th of June, at five in the morning, when we were alarmed by a violent gust of wind directly off shore, which instantly parted our small bower cable, about ten fathoms from the ring of the anchor.  The ship at once swung off to the best bower, which happily stood the violence of the jerk, and brought us up, with two cables on end, in eighty fathoms.

At this time we had not above a dozen seamen in the ship, and were apprehensive, if the squall continued, that we might be driven out to sea in this helpless condition.  We sent, therefore, the boat on shore, to bring off all who were capable of acting; and the wind soon abating of its fury, gave us an opportunity of receiving the boat back with a reinforcement.  With this additional strength, we went immediately to work, to have in what remained of the broken cable, which we suspected to have received some injury from the ground before it parted, and accordingly we found that seven fathoms and a half had been chaffed and rendered unserviceable.  In the afternoon, we bent this cable to the spare anchor, and got it over the bows.  Next morning, the 1st of July, being favoured by the wind in gentle breezes, we warped the ship in again, and let go the anchor in forty-one fathoms; the eastern point of the bay now bearing from us E. 1/2 S. the western point N.W. by W. and the bottom of the bay S.S.W. as before.  We were, however, much concerned for the loss of our anchor, and swept frequently to endeavour its recovery; but the buoy having sunk at the instant when the cable parted, we could never find it again.