82 SARMIENTO'S COLONY, 1585. 
colony, and assisting in the recovery of his stranded ship ; she 
had, however, drifted off, and sunk near Bahia; and all his 
boats were destroyed. Still Sarmiento persevered in his zealous 
efforts to succour his friends in the Strait ; and succeeded in 
procuring a vessel of fifty or sixty tons, which, loaded with arms 
and whatever he considered useful, sailed, and reached Rio de 
Janeiro a month after the departure of the first vessel (January 
1585). He followed, but in the latitude of 39° met with a 
furious gale, which drove him back to Rio de Janeiro, where 
the vessel that had preceded him had returned in distress. 
Disappointed in his attempts to carry succour to the colony, 
he determined to go to Spain; but on his voyage thither, to 
complete the catalogue of his misfortunes, his ship was captured 
by three English vessels, and taken to England, after which 
the ill-fated colony in the Strait was neglected, if not entirely 
forgotten. 
‘'wo months after Sarmiento’s departure from the Strait of 
Magalhaens, in the month of August, the middle of the winter 
of that region, the party belonging to the first establishment at 
Jesus set off by land, and joined that at San Felipe, with the 
unwelcome tidings of their deserted state. But as the provi- 
sions at San Felipe were insufficient to support all the people, 
Andres de Viedma, who, after Sarmiento’s departure, had 
assumed the command, detached two hundred soldiers, under 
the command of Juan Iniguez, back to Jesus, for the purpose 
of communicating with any ship that might make her appear- 
ance, and awaiting the expected return of Sarmiento; but the 
winter and following summer passed by without any relief. 
In this unhappy state, the colonists were obliged to think 
only of providing for their safety, and built two boats; in 
which fifty people embarked, besides Viedma, Suarez, a 
Franciscan friar named Antonio, and five Spanish women. 
They had not proceeded farther than Point Santa Brigida,* 
* From Sarmiento’s description of the coast, Point Santa Brigida is 
the outward point of Nassau Island.(@) See Sarmiento’s Voyage, p. 220. 
(a) By Nassau Island is meant the land forming the south shore of the 
Second Narrow.—R. F, 
