The turbulent weather which forced us from Tinian did not abate till three days after, and then we swayed up the fore-yard, and began to heave up the main-yard, but the jeers broke again and killed one of our people, and prevented us at that time from proceeding. The next day, being the 26th of September, was a day of most severe fatigue to us all, for it must be remembered that in these exigences no rank or office exempted any person from the manual application and bodily labour of a common sailor. The business of this day was no less than an endeavour to heave up the sheet-anchor, which we had hitherto dragged at our bows with two cables an end. This was a work of great importance to our future preservation: for not to mention the impediment it would be to our navigation, and hazard to our ship, { 305} if we attempted to make sail with the anchor in its present situation, we had this most interesting consideration to animate us, that it was the only anchor we had left, and without securing it we should be under the utmost difficulties and hazards whenever we fell in with the land again; and therefore, being all of us fully apprized of the consequence of this enterprize, we laboured at it with the severest application for twelve hours, when we had indeed made a considerable progress, having brought the anchor in sight; but it growing dark, and we being excessively fatigued, we were obliged to desist, and to leave our work unfinished till the next morning, and then, refreshed by the benefit of a night's rest, we compleated it, and hung the anchor at our bow.
It was the 27th of September, that is, five days after our departure, before we had thus secured our anchor. However, we the same day got up our main-yard, so that having now conquered, in some degree, the distress and disorder which we were necessarily involved in at our first driving out to sea, and being enabled to make use of our canvass, we set our courses, and for the first time stood to the eastward in hopes of regaining the island of Tinian, and joining our commodore in a few days, since, by our accounts, we were only forty-seven leagues distant to the south-west. Hence, on the first day of October, having then run the distance necessary for making the island according to our reckoning, we were in full expectation of seeing it: but here we were unhappily disappointed, and were thereby convinced that a current had driven us considerably to the westward. This discovery threw us into a new perplexity; for as we could not judge how much we might hereby have deviated, and consequently how long we might still expect to be at sea, we had great apprehensions that our stock of water would prove deficient, since we were doubtful about the quantity we had on board, finding many of our casks so decayed as to be half leaked out. However, we were delivered from our uncertainty the next day, having then a sight of the island of Guam, and hence we computed that the currents had driven us forty-four leagues to the westward of our accounts. Being now satisfied of our situation by this sight of land, we kept plying to the eastward, though with excessive labour; for the wind continuing fixed in the eastern board, we were obliged to tack often, and our crew { 306} was so weak that, without the assistance of every man on board, it was not in our power to put the ship about. This severe employment lasted till the 11th of October, being the nineteenth day from our departure, when arriving in the offing of Tinian, we were reinforced from the shore, as hath been already related; and on the evening of the same day we, to our inexpressible joy, came to an anchor in the road, thereby procuring to our shipmates on shore, as well as to ourselves, a cessation from the fatigues and apprehensions which this disastrous incident had given rise to.