in North lattitude, 7 deg. 30'.
their is good wooding and watering butt no secure place for a shipp to
ride in, without very good Anchors and Cables, which wee att that time
was Ill provided with. wee staied here 3 dayes and killed one sow and
Pigg and fill'd water. here are good large Oysters. so wee sett saile
with full intencion to goe into the Gulph of Dulce,[71] if wee could
find itt, but wee stearing away N.W. about 33 English legs from thiss
Isle of Canes, which Island lieth 5 legs from the Maine shore, and
comeing in with the land saw a brave deepe gulph, which concluded was
a good Place for us to cleane Our shipp, hopeing that their might be
no Inhabitance. Into which gulph we rann, by sounding of our leade so
farr as wee could, Except wee had had a Pilott for that place. wee
hoyst our 2 men of warr cannoes And went upp the Gulph. capt. Batt.
Sharpe Imbarkque[d] in one of them him self, to see if could take an
Indian to understand whatt for a place itt was; goeing about 4 leagues
ahead of the shipp, comes upp with an Island lying in the gulph of
Nicoy,[72] which Island wee understood by some Indians was called the
Island of Perroz or in English the Isle of doggs. wee found 3 or 4
families which lived heare of Indians, very poore, haveing all thay
gett once in two years taken from them by the fryars, and thay tell us
that if thay have nott to pay the friars what their demands is when
thay come, that thay carry away their children and makes them Slaves.
Butt our capt. Batt. Sharpe Asked of one Indian that could speak
Spanish, if any Shipp used to come their. he said that their was att
pressent 2 small Barkques that weir come from Pennamau, which weir
lodeing with hides and tallow bound for Pennamau again. The Indian
tolde the capt. he would Shew us wheir they weir; with whome capt.
Sharpe went with his cannoe well man'd, thiss Indian leaveing some
hands on the Isle of Perros or Dogges, to see that none gott away to
discry us, with our Shipp getts on brest the Island and Comes to an
Anchor, and missing the right channel lay their not haveing above 3
foote water more then wee drew. thiss was about 25 of Aprile 1681. the
next morning these two barkes was taken, the one being 2 thirds loden
and the other half loden with talloe; wee tooke out as much as wee
thought might serve to tallow our Shipps bottom twice and to make us
candles, and no more, which is as I Imagin about 60 or 70 Packs. Now
wee wanting carpenters un