nd. The
smaller fishing barks of this construction are much easier managed.
These go out to sea at night with the land-wind, and return to the shore
in the day with the sea-breeze; and such small _barco longos_ are used
in many parts of America, and in some places in the East Indies. On the
coast of Coromandel they use only one log, or sometimes two, made of
light wood, managed by one man, without sail or rudder, who steers the
log with a paddle, sitting with his legs in the water.[163]

[Footnote 163: On the coast of Coromandel these small rafts are named
_Catamarans_, and are employed for carrying letters or messages between
the shore and the ships, through the tremendous surf which continually
breaks on that coast.--E.]

The next town to Payta of any consequence is _Piura_, thirty miles from
Payta, seated in a valley on a river of the same name, which discharges
its waters into the bay of _Chirapee_ [or Sechura.] in lat. 5 deg. 32' S.
This bay is seldom visited by ships of burden, being full of shoals; but
the harbour of Payta is one of the best on the coast of Peru, being
sheltered on the S.W. by a point of land, which renders the bay smooth
and the anchorage safe, in from six to twenty fathoms on clear sand.
Most ships navigating this coast, whether bound north or south, touch at
this port for fresh water, which is brought to them from _Colon_ at a
reasonable rate.

Early in the morning of the 3d November, our men landed about four
miles south of Payta, where they took some prisoners who were set there
to watch. Though informed that the governor of Piura had come to the
defence of Payta with a reinforcement of an hundred men, they
immediately pushed to the fort on the hill, which they took with little
resistance, on which the governor and all the inhabitants evacuated
Payta, but which we found empty of money, goods, and provisions. That
same evening we brought our ships to anchor near the town, in ten
fathoms a mile from shore, and remained six days in hopes of getting a
ransom for the town; but seeing we were not likely to have any, we set
it on fire, and set sail at night with the land-breeze for the island of
Lobos. The 14th we came in sight of _Lobos de Tierra_, the inner or
northern island of Lobos, which is of moderate height, and appears at a
distance like _Lobos del Mare_, the southern island of the same name, at
which other island we arrived on the 19th. The evening of the 29th we
set sail for the bay o