LOSS OF A SPANISH FRIGATE. 241 
f 
wkich are so much in use in all parts of the American con- 
tinent. Six stout Indians carried me alternately, two at a time, 
on their shoulders, better than the best mules in the country 
could have done. In this manner we arrived, a little before 
daybreak, at the farm of Macotela, where we rested some 
time, and then proceeded to the town of Esparza, I was car- 
ried to the house of Don Domingo, where I found our three 
companions who had gone before us. 
Having arrived in such a good port, our first care was to 
render sincere thanks to divine Providence for our deliver- 
ance. The next thing I did was to send a courier to Carthago, 
the capital of Costa Rica, to acquaint Don Juan de Salinas, 
the governor of that province, with my arrival. I knew him, 
because I had seen him at Lima, where I had contracted a 
particular friendship with him. The courier made such des- 
patch, that in twenty-four hours after his departure the go- 
vernor entered my apartment. I informed him of the circum- 
stances and consequences of our shipwreck, and at my request 
he immediately despatched a frigate to take., on board our 
companions in misfortune, Avho, I knew, must, by this time, 
have been weary of waiting for relief. 
The crew being made acquainted with the place where they 
would find them, set sail, but returned two days afterward with 
the account that they had found nobody. We were persuaded 
that thejr had not gone to the place to which they had been 
directed, and therefore Don Juan de Salinas sent another ves- 
sel, ordering the crew to go on shore, and to bring certain in- 
telligence of my comrades. The ship accordingly proceeded 
ta the spot, and the crew landed on the beach; but seeing no- 
thing, the captain sent out some of his people to make search 
in the neighborhood. They made a circuit of more than two 
leagues, searching every place, both to the right and left, but 
without seeing any person ; at length perceiving that all their 
labor was in vain, they returned to make their report. 
When they were just setting ofTto go on board, one of them 
perceived on the strand a large heap of leaves, which did not 
appear to be placed there Avithout design. He kicked them 
with his foot, and found under them a variety of articles, iron, 
&c. This discovery surprised them, and neither his comrades 
nor he could conceive why the men had thus abandoned them. 
After some deliberation they resolved to remove them on board 
of the ship, and returned to give an account of their mission. 
Every body at Esparza, and I among the rest, imagined that 
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