Page 146
An.1684
Lobos de la Mar, again.
Rock and a good Channel between, where there is 7 fathom water. The 15th day we went ashore, and found abundance of Penguins and Boobies, and Seal in great quantities. We sent aboard of all these to be drest, for we had not tasted any flesh in a great while before; therefore some of us did eat very heartily. Captain Swan, to encourage his Men to eat this course flesh, would commend it for extraor- dinary good food, comparing the Seal to roasting Pig, the Boobies to Hens, and the Penguins to Ducks: this he did to train them to live contentedly on course Meat, not knowing but we might be forced to make use of such food before we departed out of these Seas; for it is generally seen among Privateers, that nothing imboldens them sooner to mutiny than want, which we could not well suffer in a place where there are such quantities of these Ani- mals to be had, if Men could be persuaded to be contented with them.
In the afternoon we sailed from Lobos de Terra with the Wind at S. by E. and arrived at Lobos de la Mar on the 19th day. Here we found a Letter, left by our Bark that was sent to seek Captain Eaton, by which we understood, that Captain Eaton had been there, but was gone before they arriv'd, and had left no Letter to advise us which way he was gone; and that our Bark was again returned to Plata, in hopes to find us there, or meet us by the way, else resolving to stay for us there. We were sorry to hear that Captain Eaton was gone, for now we did not ex- pect to meet with him any more in these Seas.
The 21st day we sent out our Moskito Strikers for Turtle, who brought aboard enough to serve both Ships Companies; and this they did all the time that we abode here. While we lay at this Island, Captain Swan made new yards, squarer than those he had before, and made his Sails larger, and our Ships Company in the mean time split plank for Fire-