The trade wind continued to favour us without any fluctuation from the
end of June till towards the end of July, but on the 26th of July, being
then, as we esteemed, about three hundred leagues distant from the
Ladrones, we met with a westerly wind, which did not come about again to
the eastward in four days' time. This was a most dispiriting incident, as
it at once damped all our hopes of speedy relief, especially, too, as it
was attended with a vexatious accident to the Gloucester, for in one part
of those four days the wind flattened to a calm, and the ships rolled
very deep, by which means the Gloucester's forecap split and her topmast
came by the board and broke her foreyard directly in the slings. As she
was hereby rendered incapable of making any sail for some time, we were
obliged, as soon as a gale sprung up, to take her in tow, and near twenty
of the healthiest and ablest of our seaman were taken from the business
of our own ship and were employed for eight or ten days together on board
the Gloucester in repairing her damages. But these things, mortifying as
we thought them, were but the beginning of our disasters, for scarce had
our people finished their business in the Gloucester before we met with a
most violent storm in the western board, which obliged us to lie to. In
the beginning of this storm our ship sprung a leak, and let in so much
water that all our people, officers included, were employed continually
in working the pumps, and the next day we had the vexation to see the
Gloucester with her topmast once more by the board, and whilst we were
viewing her with great concern for this new distress we saw her
main-topmast, which had hitherto served as a jury mainmast, share the
same fate.
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