With these designs, this gentleman came into the other part of our project, and contributed the more largely, and with the more freedom, to the whole, upon that account; in particular, all the needful preparations for such discoveries were made wholly at his expense, which I take notice of here, as being most proper in the beginning of our story, and that the reader may the less wonder at the particular way we took to perform a voyage which might with much more ease have been done by the usual and ordinary way. We sailed from the coast of Flanders the 2nd of January, and, without any extraordinary incident, made the coast of Galway, in Ireland, the 10th, where we stayed, and took in a very extraordinary store of provisions, three times as much as usual, the beef being also well pickled or double packed, that we might have a sufficient reserve for the length of our voyage, resolving also to spare it as much as possible. We had a very rich cargo on board, consisting of all sorts of British manufactures suitable for the Spanish trade in their West Indies; and, as we aimed at nothing of trade till we came to the Spanish coast, we sailed directly for the Canary Islands: having not fully resolved whether we would make our voyage to the South Seas first, and so round the globe by the East Indies, as has been the usual way, or whether we would go first by the East Indies, and upon the discoveries we were directed to, and then cross the great Pacific Ocean to the west coast of America, as was at last resolved. We made the Canaries, the 11th of February; and, coming to an anchor there to take in some fresh water, we put out French colours, and sent our boat on shore, with a French boatswain and all French seamen, to buy what we wanted: they brought us on board five butts or pipes of wine, and some provisions, and having filled our water, we set sail again the 13th. In this time we called a council among ourselves, by which way we should go.