d not find room for them on board.
But, had the governor been in our power, he would have treated, in all
probability, for the ransom of this merchandize, which would have
been extremely advantageous, both for him and us. Whereas, he being
at liberty, and having collected all the force of the country for many
leagues around, and having even got a body of militia from Piura, he
was so elated by his numbers, and so fond of his new military command,
that he did not seem to care about the fate of his government.
Insomuch that, although our commodore sent several messages to him,
by some of the inhabitants who were made prisoners, offering to enter
into treaty for the ransom of the town and goods, even giving
an intimation that we should be far from insisting on a rigorous
equivalent, and might perhaps be satisfied with some live cattle
and other necessaries for the use of the squadron, yet the governor
despised all these reiterated overtures, and did not deign to give
the slightest answer, though repeatedly threatened, if he would not
condescend to treat, that we would set the town and all the warehouses
on fire.

On the second day of our possessing the place, several negro slaves
deserted from the enemy on the hill, and voluntarily entered into our
service, one of them being well known to a gentleman on board, who
remembered to have seen him formerly at Panama. We now learnt that the
Spaniards, without the town, were in extreme distress for water; for
many of their slaves crept into town by stealth, and carried away
several jars of water to their masters on the hill; and, though some
of these were seized in the attempt, yet their thirst was so pressing,
that they continued the practice as long as we remained in possession
of the place. In the course of this second day, we were assured, both
by deserters and prisoners, that the Spaniards were now increased to
a formidable number, and had resolved to storm the town and fort next
night, under the command of one Gordon, a Scots papist, and captain
of a ship in these seas. We continued, however, to prosecute our work,
without hurry, loading and sending off the boats as long as we had
light; and at night, a reinforcement was again sent on shore by the
commodore, and Mr Brett doubled his guards at all the barricades, all
his posts being connected, by means of centinels placed within call
of each other, and the whole visited by frequent rounds, attended by a
drum. These marks of