04 



PORTER'S JoURr^Al,. 



officer from tiie fort, who was indefatigable in his attentions 

 towards us. His name is Sabine, and his rank was that of 

 sergeant-major. He was in every respect subject to my 

 directions, and dehcacy prevented me (whatever might 

 have been his expectations) from oifering him any compen- 

 sation. I gave him, however, at my departure, forty dol- 

 lars for the pilotage of the ship. 



I waited on the commander of the fort the day after I 

 anchored. He was a very old man ; his name was don 

 Alexandre Jose de Azedido. He received me with great 

 civility, and, as has been generally the case with the Por- 

 tuguese, expressed a great desire that oui* cruise might be 

 successful. The fort has been erected about seventy 

 years ; there are mounted on it fifteen or twenty honey- 

 combed guns of different caiibres. Vegetation has been 

 so rapid, that the walls of the fortress are nearly hid by the 

 trees that have shot up in every part. The gun-carriages 

 are in a very rotten state, and the garrison consists of 

 about twenty half-naked soldiers. 



There is a church within the fortress ; here, as a substi- 

 tute for a bell, is suspended at the door, part of a broken 

 crowbar ; and at the entrance of the commandant's apart- 

 ments, is the stocks, (for the punishment of the soldiers,) 

 which, from their greasy, polished appearance, I have rea- 

 son to believe are kept in constant use. There are three 

 forts for the protection of the bay, of which this is the prin- 

 cipal ; one on a high point on the island of St. Catharines, 

 and another on the island vt^here our boat landed after up- 

 setting, called Great Rat Island. About one and a half 

 league below the chief fortress, on the starboard hand go- 

 ing into the bay, behind a rocky point, are the houses for 

 the accommodation of those employed in the whale fishery, 

 as well as the stores, boilers, and tanks to contain the oih 

 The crown has the exclusive privilege of fishing here. 

 About five hundred men are engaged in it. Nearly the 

 same number of whales are taken annually in the bay, 

 where they come to calve, and are then perfectly helpless. 

 None but small boats are engaged in taking them. The 

 oil is deposited in an immense tank, formed for the pur- 

 pose in a rock, and is from thence transported to Portugal 

 and elsewhere. 



To this place, after the return of Mr. Shaw from town, I 



