14 



Porters Voyage 



and had already equipped, in imagination, one of their vessels 

 of fourteen or sixteen guns, and manned from the Essex, to 

 cruise against their commerce ; indeed, various were the schemes 

 we formed at this time for injuring them, and we had already, 

 in fancy, immense wealth to return with to our country. As the 

 gale continued to blow from the southwest, every hour seemed to 

 brighten our prospects and give us fresh spirits ; and on the last day 

 of February, being in the latitude of 50" south, the wind tecame 

 moderate and shifted to the northward, the sea smooth, and every 

 prospect of mild and pleasant weather. I consequently deter- 

 mined to replace the guns, and get the spars on the spar-deck ; 

 but before we had effected this, the wind had freshened up to a 

 gale, and by noon had reduced us to our storm-staysail and 

 close-reefed main-topsail. It hauled around to the westward, in 

 the afternoon, and blew v/ith a fury even exceeding any thing 

 we had yet experienced, bringing with it such a tremendous sea, 

 as to threaten us every moment with destruction. Our sails, our 

 standing and running rigging, from the succession of bad weather, 

 had become so damaged, as to be no longer trust- worthy ; we 

 took, however, the best means in our power to render every thing 

 secure, and carried as heavy a press of sail as the ship would bear, 

 to keep her from drifting on the coast of Patagonia, which we 

 had reason to believe v/as not far distant, from the appearance 

 of birds, kelp, and whales, which I have heretofore found to be 

 a tolerably sure indication of a near approach to land, and from 

 the clouds to leeward, which appeared as if arrested by the high 

 mountains of the Andes. From the excessive violence with which 

 the wind blew, we had strong hopes that it would be of short 

 continuance ; until, worn out with fatigue and anxiety, greatly 

 alarmed with the terrors of a lee-shore, and in momentary 

 expectation of the loss of our masts and bow-sprit, we almost 

 considered our situation hopeless. To add to our distress, our 

 pumps had become choaked by the shingle ballast, which, from 

 the violent rolling of the ship, had got into them : the ship made 

 a great deal of Vv^ater, and the sea had increased to such a height, 

 as to threaten to swallow us at every instant ; the whole ocean 

 was one continued foam of breakers, and the heaviest squall 

 that I ever before experienced, had not equalled in violence the 

 most moderate intervals of this hurricane. We had done all that 

 lay in our power to preserve the ship from the violence of the 

 elements, and turned our attention to the pumps, (which we were 

 enabled to clear,) and to keep the ship from drifting on shore, 

 by getting on the most advantageous tack. We, hov/ever, were 

 not enabled to wear but once, for the violence of the wind and 

 sea was such, as afterwards to render it impossible to attempt it, 

 without hazarding the destruction of the ship, and the lo^s of 



