Towards the middle of September, several of our sick were tolerably recovered by their residence on shore; and, on the 12th of September, all those who were so far relieved, since their arrival, as to be capable of doing duty, were sent on board the ship:  And then the commodore, who was himself ill of the scurvy, had a tent erected for him on shore, where he went with the view of staying a few days for the recovery of his health, being convinced, by the general experience of his people, that no other method but living on the land was to be trusted to for the removal of this dreadful malady.  The place, where his tent was pitched on this occasion, was near the well, whence we got all our water, and was indeed a most elegant spot.  As the crew on board were now reinforced by the recovered hands returned from the island, we began to send our cask on shore to be fitted up, which till now could not be done, for the coopers were not well enough to work.  We likewise weighed our anchors, that we might examine our cables, which we suspected had by this time received considerable damage.  And as the new moon was now approaching, when we apprehended violent gales, the commodore, for our greater security, ordered that part of the cables next to the anchors to be armed with the chains of the fire-grapnels; and they were besides cackled twenty fathom from the anchors, and seven fathom from the service, with a good rounding of a 41/2 inch hawser; and to all these precautions we added that of lowering the main and fore-yard close down, that in case of blowing weather the wind might have less power upon the ship, to make her ride a strain.

Thus effectually prepared, as we conceived, we expected the new moon, which was the 18th of September, and riding safe that and the three succeeding days, (though the weather proved very squally and uncertain) we flattered ourselves (for I was then on board) that the prudence of our measures had secured us from all accidents; but, on the 22d, the wind blew from the eastward with such fury, that we soon despaired of riding out the storm; and therefore we should have been extremely glad that the commodore and the rest of our people on shore, which were the greatest part of our hands, had been on board with us, since our only hopes of safety seemed to depend on our putting immediately to sea; but all communication with the shore was now effectually cut off, for there was no possibility that a boat could live, so that we were necessitated to ride it out, till our cables parted.  Indeed it was not long before this happened, for the small bower parted at five in the afternoon, and the ship swung off to the best bower; and as the night came on, the violence of the wind still increased; but notwithstanding its inexpressible fury, the tide ran with so much rapidity, as to prevail over it; for the tide having set to the northward in the beginning of the storm, turned suddenly to the southward about six in the evening, and forced the ship before it in