56 



SANTA MARTHA. 



unlading. Larger ships are here much 

 exposed to N. E. winds, by which they have 

 sometimes been blown out through the pas- 

 sage between the castle and the island of the 

 Moro ; but by having a lead overboard, with 

 a careful man to attend to it, by which you 

 know when you commence to drag your 

 anchor, a ship may in such a case make sail 

 and stand out to sea clear of all danger. 



The castle is admirably situated for the 

 defence of the bay, b^ing on the summit 

 of an almost perpendicular, insulated rock, 

 above the angle at which a ship's guns could 

 have much effect : it commands the town 

 and entrance to the harbour. Its import- 

 ance seems, however, not to have been duly 

 appreciated by the natives, as they have 

 only a few guns mounted, and abandoned it 

 when attacked by the Indians a few months 

 before my arrival, although it might have 

 defended the town as long as its provisions 



