\ 
104 7 h;e V O Y 
where Sir 7 %omds CcrvencHfo Formerly took one of thefe 
Manilla Ships. Hitherto we had a double Defign in 
View ; fir ft, the taking of the Manilla Ship •, fecondly, 
the Search after rich Towns and Mines near this Coaft, 
not knowing that the Wealth hereabouts lies all in the inland 
Country ; but now, finding ourfelves quite deceived in our 
Hopes, we parted, Captain Townley going back to the Eaft, 
and we, in Captain Swan’s Ship, to the Weft. 
47. January 7. we failed from this Valley, the Land- 
wind being at North- weft, and at Night pafied by 
IP antique, the Weft Point of the Valley of V alder as, ten 
Leagues from Cape Corientes, at 20° 50' North Latitude. 
A League beyond it, to the Weft, lie two little Ifles, 
called the Pontiques : Beyond thofe, the Shore runs ragged 
to the North for eighteen Leagues. The 14th, we came 
to anchor in a Chanel betwixt a fir all, white, rocky Ifie 
and the Continent, at fourteen Fathom, at 21 0 15'. The 
Ifie is three Leagues from the Main ; we anchored one 
League from it. From this Ifland the Land runs in North, 
making a fandy Bay : We anchored one League from the 
Continent, but there is no Landing. We found the Land- 
wind all along here at North-eaft, and the Sea-wind at 
North-weft. The 20th, we anchored one League on the 
Eaft Side of the Ifles of Chametly, (different from the - 
before-mentioned) being a Knot of fix fmall Ifles at 23 0 
if, a little to the South of the Tropic of Cancer , three 
Leagues from the Continent : One or two of them only 
have fome fandy Creeks to the Sea-fide, and produce a 
certain Fruit, called Penguins : Thefe are of two Sorts, 
red and yellow ; the laft grows on a Stem, of the Thick- 
nefs of a Man’s Arm, a Foot from the Ground, with 
Leaves of half a Foot long, and one Inch broad, edged 
with Prickles : The Fruit grows juft at the Top of the 
Stalk in Clufters ; they are round, and of the Bignefs of 
an Hen’s Egg : The Rind is pretty thick, and the Pulp 
full of black Seeds, of a delightful Tafte. The red Pern 
guin is no bigger than an Onion, but of the Shape of a 
Nine-pin ; it does not grow on a Stalk, but immediately 
out of the Ground, Landing upright, fometimes fixty or 
feventy in a Clufter, being encompafied with prickly 
Leaves of one Foot and an half long, or two Feet long. 
Captain Swan went with 100 Men to the North, to ‘find 
out the River Gullacan, fuppofed to lie at 24 0 North La- 
titude, in the Province of Cullacan , with a fair rich Town 
upon its Banks : But, though they had rowed above 
thirty Leagues, they could find no River, neither was 
there any fafe Landing-place. Seven Leagues North 
North-weft from the Ifles of Chametly is a Lake, with a 
narrow Entrance, at 23 0 30', called Rio de Sail by t he Spa- 
niards, it having Water enough for Canoes to enter. Our 
Men landed on the Weft Side, and took fome Maiz at an 
adjacent Farm-houfe, and, at another Landing, an Indian, 
who informed us, that five Leagues thence there was an 
Indian Town : So our Men marched towards it, and, 
coming near the Place, were encountered by a good Body 
of Spaniards and Indians ; but thefe being beaten back 
after the firft Charge, they entered the Town, wuere they 
found only two or three wounded Indians, who told them, 
that the Town was called Maffattan, and that five Leagues 
hence there were two rich Gold Mines. We ftaid here till 
the 2d of February , when eighty Men were fent, and landed 
in the River Rofario, about three Leagues from the Sea. 
They came to a pretty little Town, (of the fame Name.) 
where the Prifoners alfured them, that the before-men- 
tioned Mines were not above two Leagues from thence ; 
but, as we had prefent Occafion for Provifions, we carried 
aboard ninety Bufhels of Maiz, without fearching after the 
Mines. The 3d, we anchored againft the Mouth of the 
River Rofario , one League from the Shore, in feven Fa- 
thom, at 22 0 15' North Latitude. But as this fmall 
Quantity of Provifions was not likely to do our Bufmefs 
for our intended Voyage, we landed, the 8th, forty Men, 
to feek the River (Met a (fuppofed to lie to the Eaft of the 
River Rofario ) ; but they returning without any Booty, 
or -without being able to find it, we refolved to go on to 
the Eaft, to the River of St. lago , where we anchored the 
2 ith, two Miles from the Shore, in feventeen Fathom 
Water, foft oufy Ground, three Leagues from the white 
high Rock of Maxentelbo , bearing North North-weft, as 
dje high Hill Zelifco bore South- eaft of us. 
AGES of Book I. 
48. The River of St. lago, one of the rhoft confided 
able on this Coaft, lies in 22 0 1 f. It has ten Feet Water 
on the Bar at Low-water, but the Height it flows I am 
not able to tell : . Its Breadth, at the Entrance,” is • about 
half a Mile ; but it is broader within, three or four Rivers 
difchargingthemlelves into it there : The Water is brackifh * 
but, near the Mouth, on the fandy Shore, you may dig 
frefli Water at three or four Feet. Captain Swan fent but 
feventy Men to look for a Town, the Country having % 
fair Profpech After they had rowed up and down two 
Days, they landed in a Corn-field, where, while they were 
bufy in gathering the Maiz, they feized an Indian, who 
told them, that four Leagues farther there was a Town* 
called Sta. Pecaque. They were no fooner come on board* 
but Captain Swan, with 140 Men, went in eight Canoes 
five Leagues up the River, which was thereabouts not 
above a Fiftol-fliot wide, with high Banks ; and, landing 
his Men, marched through fertile Plains and Woods for 
three or four Hours : At their Approach, the Spaniards 
quitted the Place ; fo we. entered it without Oppofitiom 
1 he Town of Sta. Pecaque is feated on the Side of a Wood, 
in a fpacious Plain. It is not very larg£, but neatly built* 
with a fquare Market-place in the Middle, as moft Spanijh 
Towns are, and has two Churches. There are Silver 
Mines five or fix Leagues from this Town : The Ore 
whereof is carried from this Place by Mules to Compcjlella , 
where it is refined. Compoftella is the Capital of this Part 
of Mexico, twenty-one Leagues diftant from Pecaque , in- 
habited by about 70 white Families, and 5 or 600 Mu- 
latto es and Indians. As our Men found plenty of Maiz, 
Sugar, Salt, and Salt-fifh here, Captain Swan ordered' 
one half of them to carry Provifions aboard, whilft the 
other took care of the Town : This they did by Turns, 
having got fome Horfes to eafe them in their Labour! 
Thus they continued for two Days *, but, the 19 th, Captain 
Swan , being informed by a Prifoner, that 1000 armed 
Men had lately marched from St. Iago (a rich Town up 
the River, three Leagues thence) to attack our Men, or- 
dered his People to get all the Horfes they could, and to 
march all together, with what Provifions they could carry, 1 
to their Canoes but they refilling to obey him, till all the 
Provifions could be carried on board, he was forced to lefe 
one half of them go on with 54 Horfes ; but they had noc 
marched a Mile, before the Spaniards , lying in Ambufh, 
attacked and killed them all upon the Spot : Captain 
Swan marched to their Relief, but came too late, being all 
flain and ftript, though, at the fame time, they never 
attempted to engage him, having, queftionlefs, paid pretty- 
dear for their Vicftory. Amongft the Slain was Mr. 1 
Ringrofe, who published the Account of Captain Sharpe's 
Adventures, and the Hiftory of the Buccaneers. Captain 
Swan being returned aboard with the reft of his Men, with 
what Provifions they had got, it was refolved to fail to 
Cape St. Lucas , on California , in hopes of a Commerce 
with the Indians there, and, conlequently, in the Lake of 
California. This Lake is properly a Chanel, or Part of 
the Sea, betwixt the Ifle and the Continent ; but either not 
much known by the Spaniards , or elfe concealed by them, 1 
for fear that the other European Nations fliould find out 
that Way to the Mines of New Mexico ; for they vary 
confiderably about it in their Charts ; fome make it an Ifle, 
others join it to the Continent, but not one of them, that I 
know of, gives an Account of the Tides, the Depth, or 
Harbours, in or near this Lake ; whereas their hydrogra- 
phical Maps defcribe the Coaft s towards Afia, on the Weft 
Side of the Ifle from Cape St. Lucas to 40° North. New 
Mexico (according to the Report of the Spaniards , and 
fome Englifh Prifoners there) lies near fifty Leagues North- 
weft from Old Mexico, where the richeft Mines of all this 
Country are fuppofed to be ; though there are, queftionlefs, 
fome alfo in other Parts hereabouts, as well as on the Con- 
tinent, near the Main-land of California ; though, as the 
Spaniards have Mines enough to manage, they have not 
taken the Pains to difcover them and the vaft Diftance 
of this Country has, no doubt, been the Occafion, that no 
Difcoveries have been made by others, or are like to be 
made, unlefs a nearer Way thither could be found, I mean 
by the North-weft : I am not ignorant, that divers unfuc- 
cefsful Attempts have been formed for the Difcovery of a 
North-* 
