Page 550
An. 1691
Their Arrival in the Downs.
American Continent, till you are North of the Line, you have a brisk constant gale.
This was the way that we took, and in our paf- fage before we got to the Line, we saw three Ships, and making towards them, we found two of them to be Portuguefe, bound to Brazil: The third kept on a Wind, so that we could not speak with her; but we found by the Portuguefe it was an English Ship, called the Dorothy, Capt. Thwayt Commander, bound to the East Indies. After this we kept Company still with our 3 Consorts till we came near England, and then were separated by bad weather; but before we came within sight of Land, we got together again, all but the James and Mary. She got into the Channel be- fore us, and went to Plymouth, and there gave an account of the rest of us; whereupon our Men of War who lay there, came out to join us, and meeting us, brought us off of Plymouth. There our Confort the James and Mary came to us again, and from thence we all sailed in company of seve- ral Men of War towards Portsmouth. There our first Convoy left us, and went in thither. But we did not want Convoys, for our Fleets were then, re- pairing to their Winter Harbours, to be laid up; so that we had the company of several English Ships to the Downs, and a Squadron also of Dutch sailed up the Channel, but kept off farther from our English Coast, they being bound home to Holland. When we came as high as the South Foreland, we left them standing on their course, keeping on the back of the Goodwin Sands; and we lufft in for the Downs, where we anchored September the 16th, 1691.
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