: For it has been esteemed no uncommon passage to run from
hence to the eastermost parts of Asia in two months; and we flattered
ourselves that we were as capable of making an expeditious passage as
any ships that had ever run this course before us; so that we hoped
soon to gain the coast of China, for which we were now bound. And
conformable to the general idea of this navigation given by former
voyagers, we considered it as free from all kinds of embarrassment of
bad weather, fatigue, or sickness; and consequently we undertook it
with alacrity, especially as it was no contemptible step towards oar
arrival at our native country, for which many of us by this time began
to have great longings. Thus, on the 6th of May, we, for the last
time, lost sight of the mountains of Mexico, persuaded, that in a
few weeks we should arrive at the river of Canton in China, where
we expected to meet with many English ships, and numbers of our
countrymen; and hoped to enjoy the advantages of an amicable,
well-frequented port, inhabited by a polished people, and abounding
with the conveniences and indulgences of a civilized life, which for
near twenty months had never been once in our power.

[It is judged advisable to omit altogether the next section of the
original, as occupied by mere reckoning on the advantages "which might
have been expected from the squadron, had it arrived in the South Seas
in good time." They are in part specified at the beginning.]

SECTION XXIV.

_The Run from the Coast of Mexico to the Ladrones or Marian Islands._

When we left the coast of America, we stood to the S.W. with a view
of meeting with the N.E. trade-wind, which the accounts of former
writers made us expect at seventy or eighty leagues distance from the
land: We had another reason for standing to the southward, which was
the getting into the latitude of 13 deg. or 14 deg. north; that being
the parallel where the Pacific Ocean is most usually crossed, and
consequently where the navigation is esteemed the safest: This last
purpose we had soon answered, being in a day or two sufficiently
advanced to the south. At the same time we were also farther from the
shore, than we had presumed was necessary for the falling in with
the trade-wind: But in this particular we were most grievously
disappointed; for the wind still continued to the westward, or at best
variable. As the getting into the N.E. trade-wind, was to us a matter
of the last consequence