Chap. I. Captain Woodes Rogers. 175 
to Captain Dover to fign it , not doubting, but all would 
be content with what we had concluded ; yet, to our Sur- 
prize, they fpent the Remains of the Day, and, inftead 
of making Captain Dover comply with it* undid all, and 
brought a Paper, which impowered him to be foie Com- 
mander, without the leaft Reftraint of not molefting thofe 
that fhould navigate the Ship, but to order every thing as 
he fhould think fit. I fent a Letter to Captain Courtney 
this Morning, to know what Meafures were going for- 
ward, having heard nothing from him fince the yth Inftant •, 
and defired that there might be no Lofs of Time, but 
that the Committee might meet once more, to try if they 
would make ufe of their unbiaffed Reafon : They were 
then all aboard the Marquis , where I heard they had, fince 
our laft Meeting, concerted how to frame a Proteft againft 
me, and my Officers of the Committee, which was imme- 
diately anfwered by a Proteft from me* both which were 
figned on the 9th. I had always defired, that Captain 
Dover might be aboard her j for, being a confiderable 
Owner, we all agreed he was a very proper Perfon to take 
care of her Cargo, and to have all Accommodation that 
could be made for him in that Ship, which was of fuch Vaft 
Confequence to us, and our Employers : That, in their In- 
itruftions to me, they ftriftly charged me to ufe the fe- 
cureft Methods to bring her fafe home, in cafe we fhould 
be fo fortunate, as we now were, to take one of the Aca- 
pulco Ships * fo that, after the Protefts were over on both 
Sides, I defired they might affemble together, and finally 
determine what the Majority would agree on, that no 
T ; me might be loft : So all the Council met again on board 
the Batchelor , to endeavour an Accommodation. After a 
long Debate, they voted Mr. Fry and Mr. Stretton both to 
aft in equal Polls, to take Charge of the navigating the 
Ship, tho’ under Captain Dover •, but they were not to be 
molefted or contradifted in their Bufinefs by him* whofe 
Duty it was to fee, that nothing fhould be done contrary 
to the Intereft of the Owners, and Ships Companies, in the 
Nature of an Agent, almoft in the fame manner I propofed 
at firft * only he had the Title of chief Captain in that Ship* 
which was fofmall a Difference, where Titles were fo com- 
mon, that we all confented to it : And at the fame time 
they chofe Officers, agreeing, that w r e fhould put thirty 
Men aboard her, the Duchefs twenty-five, and the Marquis 
thirteen, which, with thirty-fix Manilla Indians , called 
Laf-Car , and other Prifoners we had left, made her Com- 
plement about no Men. The Majority keeping to their 
firft Agreement, I was obliged to come into it, according 
to my Inftruftions from our Owners * fo that all our Differ- 
ences about this Affair were at an End, and we drank to our 
fafe Arrival in Great Britain. In the Morning, we put 
thirty-five good Hands aboard her : The Duchefs and Mar- 
quis put no more than their Share. The Captains Courtney 
and Cooke , ana two or three more of the Committee, came 
to me, where we figned a Paper for Captain Dover , and the 
two Commanders, recommending Peace and Tranquillity 
amongft them * and that, in cafe of Separation, the Place 
of Rendezvous was to be Guam , one of the Ladrone IJlands , 
where we defigned to touch. I fhould have been very un- 
willing to have committed all this Difpute to Writing, if I 
had not been latisfied, that it was no longer in my Power 
to conceal it * and that, fince it was known in part, I ought, 
in Juftice to myfelf, my Friends, and to Truth itfelf, to 
give the Whole * which I conceive fo much the more rea- 
fonable, becaufe it may hereafter prove ufeful to Perfons in 
the like Circumftances : And, in fo perplexed a Bufinefs as 
ours, there is nothing fo ferviceable as Precedents. 
35 ; As I have not filled this Work with a Variety of De- 
fcriptions, fo, before I quit America , it may not be amifs 
to give the Reader fome Account of California * the rather 
becaufe moil of what I relate I was Eye-witnefs of, and there- 
fore it deferves the greater Credit. I have heard from the 
Spaniards , that fome of their Nation had failed as far betwixt 
California and the Main as 42 0 North Latitude, where, 
meeting with fhole Water, and abundance of Hands, they 
durft not venture any farther * fo that, if this be trqe, in all 
Probability, it joins to the Continent a little farther to the 
Northward : For fhole Water and Hands are a. general 
Sign of being near fome Mam-land. But the Spaniards , 
having more Territories in this Parc of the World, than 
Numb. 12, 
they know how to manage, are not curious after further 
Difcoveries. The Manilla Ships, bound to Acapulco , often 
make this Coaft in the Latitude 40° North * and I never 
heard of any, that clifcovered it farther to the Northward, 
Some old Draughts make it join to the Land of JeJfo * but 
all this being yet Undetermined, I fhall not take upon me to 
affirm, whether it is an Hand, or joins to the Continent;, 
The Dutch fay, they formerly took a Spanijh Veffel in thofe 
Seas, which had failed round California , and found it to be an 
Hand * but this Account cannot be depended on, and I 
chufe to believe it joins to the Continent. There is no cer- 
tain Account of its Shape or Bignefs •, and, having feen fo 
little of it, I fhall refer the Reader to our common Draughts 
for its Situation. What I can fay of it from, my own Know- 
ledge is, that the Land where we were is, for the moft part, 
mountainous, barren, and fandy, and had nothing but a few 
Shrubs and Bullies, which produced Fruit and Berries of fe- 
veral forts. Our Men, who wetit in ottr Bark to view the 
Country about fifteen Leagues to the Northward, fay, it was 
there covered with tall Trees. The Spaniards tell us of 
feveral good Harbours in this Country * but we found none 
of them near this Cape. We frequently faw Smoke in feve- 
ral Places ; which made us believe the Inhabitants were 
pretty numerous. The Bay, where we rode, had but very 
indifferent Anchoring-ground in deep Water* and is the 
worft Recruiting-place we met with fince we came out. 
The Wind, at this Time of the Year generally blowing 
over Land, makes it good Riding on the Starboard Side 
of the Bay, where you anchor on a Bank, that has from ten 
to twenty-five Fathom Water : But the reft of the Bay is 
very deep * and, near the Rocks, on the Larboard Side, 
going in, there is no Ground. During the Time of our 
Stay, the Air was ferene, pleafant, and healthful •, and we 
had no ftrong Gales of Wind, very little Rain* but great 
Dews fell by Night, when it was very cold. The Natives 
Ive faw here were about 300. They had large Limbs, very 
ftrait, tall, and of a much blacker Complexion, than any 
other People* that I had feen in the South Seas % their Hair 
long, black, and ftrait, which hung down to their Thighs : 
The Men ftark-naked ; and the Women had a Covering 
of Leaves over their Privities, or little Clouts made of Silk- 
grafs, or the Skins of Birds and Beafts. All of them, that 
we faw, were old, and miferably wrinkled. We fuppofe 
they were afraid to let any of their young ones come near 
us * but needed not : For, befides the good Order kept 
among our Men in that relpeft, if we may judge by what 
we faw, they could not be very tempting. The Language of 
the Natives was as unpleafant to us, as their Afpeft * for it 
Was very harfh and broad, and they pronounced it fo much 
in their Throat, as if their Words had been ready to choak 
them. I defigned to have brought two of them away with 
me, in order to have had fome Account of the Country, 
when they had learnt fo milch of our Language, as to en- 
able them to give it * but, being fhort of Provifions, I 
durft not venture it. Some of them wore Pearls about their 
Arms and Necks, having firft notched it round, and fattened 
it with a String of Silk-grafs * for, I fuppofe, they knew 
not how to bore them. The Pearls were mixed with little 
red Berries, Sticks, and Bits of Shells, which they looked 
upon to be fo fine an Ornament, that, tho 5 we had Glafs- 
beads of feveral Colours, and other Toys, they would ac- 
cept none of them. They coveted nothing we had, but 
Knives, and other cutting Inftruments * and were fo honeft, 
that they did not meddle with our Coopers or Carpenters 
Tools ; fo that, whatever was left aftiore at Night, we 
found in the Morning. We faw nothing like European 
Furniture or Utenfils about them. Their Huts were very 
low, and made of Branches of Trees and Reeds* but non 
fufficiently covered to keep out Rain. They had nothing 
like Gardens or Provifions about them. They fubfifted 
chiefly on Fifh while we were here, which, with the Mifer- 
ablenefs of their Huts, that feemed only to be made for a 
time, made us conclude, they had no fixed Habitation here, 
whatever they might have elfewhere * and that this was 
their fifliing Seafon. We faw no Nets or Hooks, but 
wooden Inftruments, with which they ftrike the Fifh very 
dextroufly, and dive to Admiration. Some of our Sailors 
told me, they faw one of them dive with his Inftrument* 
and, whilft he was under Water, put up his Striker* with 
2 Y a Fifh 
