56 
PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
up before it. It would have been necessary to fill them in the 
boat, and as we had nearly all our water to fill, it would in that 
manner have taken a month to have watered our ship. The guide 
then took me to a small sandy beach, farther to the north, and 
directly opposite the fort, where we found a watering-place, the 
most convenient of any I ever met with. A small and limpid 
stream ran from the mountain. The sea had thrown a bank of 
sand up before its mouth, and formed a small lake of about 20 
yards in circumference, and 5 or 6 feet deep. It was not necessary 
to roll the casks five yards. We had a beautiful beach to land on, 
and for rafting our casks. There are no houses in the neighbour¬ 
hood. The woods are impenetrable. There is no possibility of the 
people straggling from their work, nor any inducement for their 
doing so ; and what is a great consideration, they cannot get rum . 
There is one evil, however, that it is necessary to guard against^ 
In order to get good water here : when the tide is high, the sea* 
water forces its way through the loose sand ; and while the water 
on the surface, and for three feet deep, is perfectly fresh, that at 
the bottom is as salt as the ocean ; by dipping it up carefully, 
however, or taking your water higher up the stream, you may 
at all times get it fresh. We, in two days and a half, completed 
watering our ship; and got as much wood on board, as we had 
consumed since our departure from the United States. The 
officers and men, in the mean time, provided themselves with 
hogs, fowls, plantains, yams, and onions, in considerable quanti¬ 
ties, from the boats along side; but their anxiety to procure 
them, caused the Portuguese to take advantage of their necessi¬ 
ties, and ask the most extravagant prices for every thing, which 
some of our people had the folly to give, as if their stock of mo¬ 
ney was inexhaustible. This made my interference necessary, 
as those who were not disposed to squander their money were 
likely to go without refreshments. I first began by punishing a 
naan for paying a dollar for a dozen of rotten eggs ; and next 
would not permit the boats to sell, after they had come along side, 
until the price of every article was established as follows: three- 
fowls, one dollar ; nine water-melons for the same sum; one dol¬ 
lar for a turkey ; and very thing else In the same ratio. After 
