captain to alter his courfe, and bear 

 awayj for the greater furety, to the weft^ 

 ward, he perfifted in making diredlly, aa 

 he thought, for the ifland of Socoro ; and 

 to fuch as dared from time to time td 

 deUver their doubts of being entangled 

 with the land ftretching to the weftward^, 

 he replied, that he thought himfelf in 

 no cafe at liberty to deviate from his 

 orders j and that the abfence of his fliip 

 from the firft place of rendezvous, 

 would entirely fruftrate the whole fqua- 

 dron in the firfl objeft of their attack, 

 and polEbly decide upon the fortune of 

 the whole expedition. For the better 

 tinderftanding the force of his reafon-. 

 ing, it is neceflary to explain, that the 

 ifland of Socoro is in the neighbourhood 

 of Baldivia 5 the capture of which place 

 could not be effec5ted without the junc-*! 

 tion of that fhip which carried the ord-* 

 Rs^uce and ?nilitary flores, 



The 



