As the bay last described, or Cumberland Bay, is by far the most commodious road in the island, so it is adviseable for all ships to anchor on the western side of this bay, within little more than two cables' lengths of the beach. Here they may ride in forty fathom of water, and be, in a great measure, sheltered from a large heavy sea which comes rolling in whenever an eastern or a western wind blows. It is however expedient, in this case, to cackle or arm the cables with an iron chain, or good rounding, for five or six fathom from the anchor, to secure them from being rubbed by the foulness of the ground. I have before observed that a northerly wind, to which alone this bay is exposed, very rarely blew during our stay here; and as it was then winter, it may be supposed, in other seasons, to be less frequent. Indeed, in those few instances when it was in that quarter, it did not blow with any great force; but this perhaps might be owing to the highlands on the southward of the bay, which checked its current, and thereby abated its violence, for we had reason to suppose that a few leagues off it blew with considerable strength, since it sometimes drove before it a prodigious sea, in which we rode forecastle in. But though the northern winds are never to be apprehended, yet the southern winds, which generally prevail here, frequently blow off the land in violent gusts and squalls, which, however, rarely last longer than two or three minutes. This seems to be owing to the obstruction of the southern gale by the hills in the neighbourhood of the bay, for the wind being collected by this means, at last forces its passage through the narrow vallies, which, like so many funnels, both facilitate its escape and increase its violence. These frequent and sudden gusts make it difficult {113} for ships to work in with the wind off shore, or to keep a clear hawse when anchored.