It was on the 13th of October, five months after the shipwreck, that
the long-boat, converted into a schooner, weighed and stood to the
southward, giving the captain who, with Lieutenant Hamilton, of the land
forces, and the surgeon, was then on the beach, three cheers at their
departure. It was the 29th of January following before they arrived at
Rio Grande, on the coast of Brazil; and having by various accidents, left
about twenty of their people on shore at the different places they
touched at, and a greater number having perished by hunger during the
course of their navigation, there were no more than thirty of them left
when they arrived in that port. Indeed, the undertaking of itself was a
most extraordinary one, for, not to mention the length of the run, the
vessel was scarcely able to contain the number that first put to sea in
her; and their stock of provisions (being only what they had saved out of
the ship) was extremely slender; and the cutter, the only boat they had
with them, soon broke away from the stern and was staved to pieces; so
that when their provision and their water failed them, they had
frequently no means of getting on shore to search for a fresh supply.
When the long-boat and cutter were gone, the captain and those who were
left with him proposed to pass to the northward in the barge and yawl;
but the weather was so bad, and the difficulty of subsisting so great,
that it was two months after the departure of the long-boat before he was
able to put to sea.
Pages:
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84