170 
PORTER’S JOURNAL, 
fresh tracks of men were plainly to be seen from the beach to 
the post-office, where the articles were placed ; and an impres¬ 
sion was made in the sand, as though a bag had been set down, 
near which were some whale-line yarns, part of which had been 
used, no doubt, for the purpose of tying it; all of which circum¬ 
stances left no doubts on our minds of their having been carried 
off by some whale-ship ; and, on comparing the yarns with those 
we had got from on board our prizes, they were known to be 
English. I now felt ^great regret that I had not kept the Geor- 
giana with me until our arrival, that I could have dispatched 
her direct for Albemarle in search of the stranger, as I could 
have no doubt of her having gone direct for that place, as 
this is the common touching-place for vessels bound there, both 
from a high southern latitude, and from Tumbez, on the continent, 
where they generally go for water; and I was in hopes she was 
from the latter place, with a good stock of that article, of which 
we now stood more in need than any other ; and although I was 
almost induced to consider her as our own (for I had no doubts 
that lieutenant Downes would fall in with her), yet, as I was not 
certain that he would be enabled to join me here, I had no strong 
expectations of receiving any immediate advantage from the sup« 
plies she might bring, and determined to make every exertion in 
my power to procure, if possible, a supply from the island. I had 
heard of a spring in the interior, which could be approached from 
a beach on the west side, about 6 miles distant from the ship; 
to this place I proceeded next morning, taking with me two ten- 
gallon kegs to make the experiment with, in order to estimate 
the quantity we could procure from there daily. We found the 
spring at the distance, of three miles from the beach, and the 
water, after clearing it out, proved excellent; but it was found 
to be extremely laborious work getting it to the beach, as our 
stoutest men were exhausted after taking down one keg each ; 
and it was found that each man could not carry any more than 
three kegs in twenty-four hours, owing to the distance, the bad¬ 
ness of the roads, and the excessive heat on shore. I concluded, 
however, on attempting to get some water co answer our present 
purpose, notwithstanding the difficulties which opposed us, and 
