to sea for the heat here was intolerable; but we lay four or five
days above the bar, waiting for the land-breeze to carry us out, for
there is no getting out with the sea-breeze, and the entrance between
the two first forts is so narrow, and so great a sea breaks in upon
them, that it was not without much danger, and difficulty we got out at
last, and if we had followed the advice of the Portuguese pilot, we had
certainly lost the ship.[10] As this narrative is published for the
advantage of future navigators, particularly those of our own nation, it
is also necessary I should observe, that the Portuguese here, carrying
on a great trade, make it their business to attend every time a boat
comes on shore, and practise every artifice in their power to entice
away the crew: if other methods do not succeed, they make them drunk,
and immediately send them up the country, taking effectual care to
prevent their return, till the ship to which they belong has left the
place; by this practice I lost five of my men, and the Tamar nine: Mine
I never recovered, but the Tamar had the good fortune to learn where
her's were detained, and by sending out a party in the night, surprised
them, and brought them back.

[Footnote 10: The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is uncommonly good, and
spacious enough for a large fleet, but the entrance is very narrow, and
requires to be entered with the assistance of a sea-breeze, which
fortunately blows daily from before noon till sun-set. According to
Captain Krusenstern, the harbour of St Catharines in the island of that
name near the Brazil coast, is "infinitely preferable to Rio Janeiro,"
for ships going round Cape Horn.--See his reasons in the account of his
voyage p. 76.--E.]

SECTION II.

_Passage from Rio de Janeiro to Port Desire; with some Description of
that Place._

On Monday the 22d, being now once more at sea, I called all hands upon
deck, and informed them, that I was not, as they imagined, bound
immediately to the East Indies, but upon certain discoveries, which it
was thought might be of great importance to our country; in
consideration of which, the lords commissioners of the Admiralty had
been pleased to promise them double pay, and several other advantages,
if during the voyage they should behave to my satisfaction. They all
expressed the greatest joy imaginable upon the occasion, and assured me,
that there was no danger or difficulty that they would not with the
utmost cheerf