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We therefore made fail weft ward, but could 

 advance no great way that day, and were obliged 

 to pafs the whole night in the boat, where there was 

 far from room fufficient for all of us to lie at our 

 whole length. On the twenty-feventh we encamp- 

 ed in an ifland where we found the cabins abandon- 

 ed, the roads beaten, and the traces of Spanifli 

 fhoes. This ifland is the firfl of thofe called the 

 Tortues the foil is the fame with that of the ijles 

 aux Martyrs. I cannot conceive what men can have 

 to do in io wretched places, and fo remote from all 

 manner of habitations. We continued to fail weft- 

 ward, and advanced with a rapidity which could 

 only come from the currents. 



We advanced likewife confiderably on the twenty- 

 eighth till noon altho' we had very little wind, 

 the iflands feemed to ride poft paft us. At noon 

 we took an obfervation of the latitude, and found 

 ourfelves in twenty-four degrees, fifteen minutes 

 north. Had our fea charts been correct we fhould 

 have been at the weftern extremity of the Tor lues. 

 It was pretty hazardous to truft ourfelves in the 

 open fea, and had I had the management, we had 

 left all thefe iflands on our larboard fide ; but our 

 conductors were afraid of miffing the pafTage be- 

 tween them and the continent. They had all rea- 

 fon to repent it, for we were afterwards two whole 

 days without feeing land, tho' we failed always 

 north or north-eaft. 



Then defpair feized our crew, and a Angle 

 fquall of wind, fuch as wehad often experienced, could 

 have fent us to the bottom. Even a calm was at- 

 tended with inconveniences, as we were obliged to 

 row all night, and the heat was exceffive. The 

 failors had reafon to be diflatisfied, the obftinacy of 



a few 



