"You will recollect our squadron left England on the 18th September 1740. We had a tedious passage of forty-one days to Madeira, the usual one being ten; to this accident several secondary ones succeeded, as loss of time, and the season proper for navigating the Southern seas, and declining health of the men, especially the soldiers. We stayed a month at this island, employed in watering, and taking in our stock of wine. It is highly probable that we narrowly escaped a squadron of the enemy, which were discovered from the mountains, cruising off the west end of the island, and which, if the commanders had behaved like disciplinarians, might have intercepted us, and it would have fully answered the designs of the Spanish court if they had disabled us from pursuing our voyage, which must have been the consequence of an engagement. They had also the advantage of being double our number; but, leaving them to their reflections, we pursued our course, and crossed the line and tropic without any remarkable accidents occurring, excepting that fever and fluxes began to attack us, especially the soldiers; and in forty-four days we arrived at the island of St. Catherine, on the coast of Brazil, on the 19th March 1740. "We stayed at St. Catherine's twenty-eight days, employed in recovering our sick, who lived on shore in tents, and in making preparations for doubling Cape Horn in a tempestuous and advanced season. "We sailed hence on the 18th of January 1741, and soon after began to meet with uncertain, stormy weather, in which the Tryal sloop lost her mainmast, and was towed by one of the squadron; the rest separated from us, but as our rendezvous was at St. Julien's, a port on the coast of Patagonia, or, as others term it, Terra Magellanica, in 49 deg. 30' South, we rejoined them there, by which we heard of Pizarro's squadron, from whom we narrowly escaped off Pepy's Island. We stayed here eight days, employed in putting all our lumber on board the store-ship, and were in hopes of meeting with the Spanish squadron. "The coast here is a sulphureous and nitrous soil, abounding with salt lakes, but destitute of verdure, shrub, tree, or fresh water, and seems the seat of infernal spirits; nor indeed was there the trace of any animals, besides seals and birds. We here took in salt and refitted the sloop.