Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2)Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir
History
Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir
Latin America -- Description and travel; Latin America -- History
At Socorro no anchorage could be found near the shore, the coast
being exceeding bold and steep, except in a small cove where they
had only ten fathoms; which place he judged to be too insecure.
On this island, which consists of one very elevated summit and
several detached points, that have a singular and picturesque
appearance, the crew of his ship procured plenty of wild beans
and prickly pears; they also sowed all sorts of garden seeds and
some cocoa nuts. Leaving Socorro they went to San Benedito, or San
Berto, where they procured the same fruits: they then explored
Rocca Partida; its greatest length was fifty or sixty fathoms,
its breadth, thirty five, with two separated pinnacles, which
are about 120 feet in height, and look exactly like a ship under
jury-masts, when seen from afar: its distance from Socorro is about
forty-eight miles west. Here they saw a prodigious quantity of
fish, but could only catch a few, owing to the multitude of sharks
which destroyed their lines. A man reaching over the gun-wale of
the boat, one of these ravenous animals attempted to bite his hand
off, and they even seized the steering oar at the stern, so that
they were obliged to lay it in.
Man of war birds and seals were the only habitants of this dreary
rock. They steered from hence to the coast of California, and
returned to Socorro on the 25th of November, 1793; after examining
the coast they found a small bay on the south, with twenty-five
fathoms water and good anchorage; the surface of the island on
being explored, appeared to consist of a fine loose cinder,
excepting on the north-east, where the ground was more firm.
Captain Collnettʼs crew being very weak, and his ship in a bad
state, he staid here only long enough to procure fish and fruit,
and before his departure named the group Revillagegido, out of
compliment to the Viceroy of that name, who had treated him with
kindness whilst a prisoner at Mexico.
These islands were originally discovered by the Spaniards.
The whole coast from hence to Guaxaca and along the shores of
the kingdom of Guatimala presents no islands of any consequence
until we reach the extremity of Veragua, towards the south, where,
between Cape Dulce and Cape Mariato are the isles Zedzones,
Mentuosa, Quibo, or Caybo, and Quicaras; the first are merely small
barren rocks.
_Mentuosa_ rises to a considerable height, covered with cocoa-nut
and other trees, and is about five or six miles in circumference,
in 7° 15ʹ north latitude and 82° 40ʹ west longitude. The _Quicaras_
are two islets, one of which is seven miles, the other two or three
in length, and about twelve miles south of Caybo; they are also
covered with trees.
_Caybo_, or _Quibo_, was visited by Lord Anson, in his celebrated
circumnavigation of the world, on the 3d of December, 1741; when he
came to anchor near Canal Bueno, and staid here until the 12th of
the same month.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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