We had at this time very little wind, so that all the boats were employed to tow us out of the bay; and even what wind there was, lasted only long enough to give us an offing of two or three leagues, when it flatted to a calm. The night coming on, we lost sight of the chace, and were extremely impatient for the return of daylight, in hopes to find that she had been becalmed as well as we, though I must confess that her greater distance from the land was a reasonable ground for suspecting the contrary, as we indeed found in the morning to our great mortification, for though the weather continued perfectly clear, we had no sight of the ship from the mast-head. But as we were now satisfied that it was an enemy, and the first we had seen in these seas, we resolved not to give over the search lightly; and, a small breeze springing up from the W.N.W., we got up our top-gallant masts and yards, set all the sails, and steered to the S.E. in hopes of retrieving our chace, which we imagined to {154} be bound to Valparaiso. We continued on this course all that day and the next, and then, not getting sight of our chace, we gave over the pursuit, conceiving that by that time she must, in all probability, have reached her port. Being therefore determined to return to Juan Fernandes, we haled up to the S.W. with that view, having but very little wind till the 12th, when, at three in the morning, there sprung up a fresh gale from the W.S.W. which obliged us to tack and stand to the N.W. At daybreak we were agreeably surprized with the sight of a sail on our weather-bow, between four and five leagues distant. We immediately crouded all the sail we could, and stood after her, and soon perceived it not to be the same ship we originally gave chace to. She at first bore down upon us, shewing Spanish colours, and making a signal as to her consort; but observing that we did not answer her signal, she instantly loofed close to the wind, and stood to the southward. Our people were now all in spirits, and put the ship about with great briskness; and as the chace appeared to be a large ship, and had mistaken us for her consort, we conceived that she was a man-of-war, and probably one of Pizarro's squadron. This induced the commodore to order all the officers' cabins to be knocked down and thrown overboard, with several casks of water and provisions which stood between the guns, so that we had soon a clear ship, ready for an engagement. About nine o'clock we had thick hazy weather and a shower of rain, during which we lost sight of the chace; and we were apprehensive, if this dark weather should continue, that by going upon the other tack, or by some other artifice, she might escape us; but it clearing up in less than an hour, we found that we had both weathered and fore-reached upon her considerably, and were then near enough to discover that she was only a merchantman, without so much as a single tier of guns. About