113 



vSaw four English ships of the royal navy lying 

 to, very near the poop. We had passed without 

 being perceived ; and the same mist which had 

 hidden the peak from our view, had saved us 

 from the danger of being carried back to Eu- 

 rope. It would liave been very painful to natu- 

 ralists, to have seen the coast of Teneriffe, with- 

 out having been able to tread a soil torn up by 

 volcanoes. 



We immediately got up our anchor, and the 

 Pizarro stood in as close as possible to the fort, 

 to be under it's protection. It was on this shore, 

 that, in the landing attempted by the English 

 two years before our arrival % admiral Nelson 

 had his arm carried off by a cannon ball. The 

 governor general of the Canaries*^ sent an order 

 to the captain of the sloop, to put on shore the 

 dispatches from the court for the governors of 

 the colonies, the money on board, and the public 

 correspondence. The English vessels left the 

 road, having given chace the evening before to 

 the packet boat the Alcudia, which had left Co- 

 runna a few days before us. She was obliged 

 to touch at the port of Palmas, in the isle of Ca- 

 nary, and several passengers, who were going in 

 a boat to Santa Cruz, had been made prisoners. 



The situation of this town is very similar to 

 that of La Guayra, the most frequented port of 



* In the month of July, 1797, 

 + Don Andrea de Perlasca, 



vol. r. i 



