An Account of the Discovery of the Land called Davis’s Land.
Reading edition
“We went from Gallapagoes under the Line, for the southward; intending to touch nowhere till we came to the island of Juan Fernandez.
“In our way thither, about four o’clock in the morning, when we were in the latitude of 12 deg. 30 min. S. and about 150 leagues from the main of America, our ship and bark felt a terrible shock, which put our men into such a consternation, that they could hardly tell where they were, or what to think, but every one began to prepare for death. And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for granted the ship had struck upon a rock: but, when the amazement was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but found no ground; so that, after consultation, we concluded it must certainly be some earthquake. The suddenness of this shock made the guns of the ship leap in their carriages, and several of the men were shaken out of their hammocks. Captain Davis, who lay with his head over a gun, was thrown out of his cabin. The sea, which ordinarily looks green, seemed then of a whitish colour; and the water which we took up in our buckets for the ship’s use, we found to be a little mixed with sand. This at first made us think there was some spit of land; but when we had sounded, it confirmed our opinion of the earthquake. Some time after, we heard news, that at that very time there was an earthquake at Callao, which is the road for Lima, and that the sea ebbed so far from the shore, that on a sudden there was no water to be seen; and that after it had been away a considerable time, it returned in rolling mountains of water, which carried the ships in the road of Callao a league up into the country, overflowed the city of Callao, though it stood upon a hill, together with the fort, and drowned man and beast for 50 leagues along the shore, doing mischief even at Lima, though six miles within land from the town of Callao.
Having recovered our fright, we kept on to the southward. We steered S. and by E. half easterly, until we came to lat. of 27 deg. 20 min. S. when, about two hours before day, we fell in with a small, low, sandy island, and heard a great roaring noise, like that of the sea beating upon the shore, right-a-head of the ship: whereupon the sailors, fearing to fall foul upon the shore before day, desired the captain to put the ship about, and to stand off till day appeared; to which the captain gave his consent. So we plyed off till day, and then stood in again with the land; which proved to be a small flat island, without the guard of any rocks. We stood in within a quarter of a mile of the shore, and could see it plainly, for it was a clear morning, not foggy nor hazy. To the westward, about twelve leagues, by judgment, we saw a range of high land, which we took to be islands, for there were several partitions in the prospect. This land seemed to reach about fourteen or sixteen leagues in a range; and there came hence great flocks of fowls. I, and many more of our men, would have made this land, and have gone ashore at it, but the captain would not permit us. The small island bears from Copayapo almost due east 500 leagues, and from the Gallapagoes, under the Line, 600 leagues.
Dampier says, “Captain Davis told me lately, that after his departure from Ria Lexa, he went, after several traverses, to the Gallapagoes; and that standing thence southward for wind, to bring him about Terra del Fuego, in the latitude of 27 deg. S. about 500 leagues from Copayapo, on the coast of Chili, he saw a small sandy island just by him; and that they saw to the westward of it a long track of pretty high land, trending away to the N. W. out of sight.”
End of the First Volume.