side make a great swell, and very bad going ashore in boats: the ships
that ride here are then often forced to put to sea, and sometimes to cut
or slip their anchors, not being able to weigh them. The best and
smoothest landing is in a small sandy cove, about a mile to the
north-east of the road, where there is good water, with which ships that
lade here are supplied; and many times ships that lade at Oratavia, which
is the chief port for trade, send their boats hither for water. That is a
worse port for westerly than this is for easterly winds; and then all
ships that are there put to sea. Between this watering-place and Santa
Cruz are two little forts; which with some batteries scattered along the
coast command the road. Santa Cruz itself is a small unwalled town
fronting the sea, guarded with two other forts to secure the road. There
are about 200 houses in the town, all two stories high, strongly built
with stone and covered with pantile. It hath two convents and one church,
which are the best buildings in the town. The forts here could not secure
the Spanish galleons from Admiral Blake, though they hauled in close
under the main fort. Many of the inhabitants that are now living remember
that action in which the English battered the town, and did it much
damage; and the marks of the shot still remain in the fort walls. The
wrecks of the galleons that were burnt here lie in 15 fathom water: and
it is said that most of the plate lies there, though some of it was
hastily carried ashore at Blake's coming in sight.

LAGUNA TOWN LAKE AND COUNTRY; AND ORATAVIA TOWN AND ROAD.

Soon after I had anchored I went ashore here to the Governor of the town,
who received me very kindly and invited me to dine with him the next day.
I returned on board in the evening, and went ashore again with two of my
officers the next morning; hoping to get up the hill time enough to see
Laguna, the principal town, and to be back again to dine with the
Governor of Santa Cruz; for I was told that Laguna was but 3 miles off.
The road is all the way up a pretty steep hill; yet not so steep but that
carts go up and down laden. There are public houses scattering by the
wayside, where we got some wine. The land on each side seemed to be but
rocky and dry; yet in many places we saw spots of green flourishing corn.
At farther distances there were small vineyards by the sides of the
mountains, intermixed with abundance of waste rocky land, unfit for
culti