Towards the middle of August, our men being indifferently recovered, they were permitted to quit their sick tents, and to build separate huts for themselves, as it was imagined that by living apart they would be much cleanlier, and consequently likely to recover their strength the sooner; but at the same time particular orders were given, that on the firing of a gun from the ship they should instantly repair to the water-side. Their employment on shore was now either the procuring of refreshments, the cutting of wood, or the making of oil from the blubber of the sea-lions. This oil served us for several purposes, as burning in lamps, or mixing with pitch to pay the ship's sides, or, when worked up with wood-ashes, to supply the use of tallow (of which we had none left) to give the ship boot-hose tops. Some of the men too were occupied in salting of cod; for there being two Newfoundland fishermen in the _Centurion_, the commodore set them about laying in a considerable quantity of salted cod for a sea-store, though very little of it was used, as it was {130} afterwards thought to be as productive of the scurvy as any other kind of salt provisions. I have before mentioned that we had a copper oven on shore to bake bread for the sick; but it happened that the greatest part of the flour for the use of the squadron was embarked on board our victualler the _Anna_ pink: and I should have mentioned that the _Tryal_ sloop, at her arrival, had informed us, that on the 9th of May she had fallen in with our victualler not far distant from the continent of Chili, and had kept company with her for four days, when they were parted in a hard gale of wind. This afforded us some room to hope that she was safe, and that she might join us; but all June and July being past without any news of her, we then gave her over for lost, and at the end of July, the commodore ordered all the ships to a short allowance of bread. Nor was it in our bread only that we feared a deficiency; for since our arrival at this island we discovered that our former purser had neglected to take on board large quantities of several kinds of provisions which the commodore had expressly ordered him to receive; so that the supposed loss of our victualler was on all accounts a mortifying consideration. However, on Sunday, the 16th of August, about noon, we espied a sail in the northern quarter, and a gun was immediately fired from the _Centurion_ to call off the people from shore, who readily obeyed the summons, repairing to the beach, where the boats waited to carry them on board. And being now prepared for the reception of this ship in view, whether friend or enemy, we had various speculations about her; at first, many imagined it to be the _Tryal_ sloop returned from her cruize, though as she drew nearer this opinion was confuted, by observing she was a vessel with three masts. Then other conjectures were eagerly canvassed, some judging it to be