To what hath been already said in relation to this disease, I shall add that our surgeon (who during our passage round Cape Horn had ascribed the mortality we suffered to the severity of the climate) exerted himself in the present run to the utmost: but he at last declared that all his measures were totally ineffectual, and did not in the least avail his patients. On this it was resolved by the commodore to try the success of two medicines which, just before his departure from England, were the subject of much discourse, I mean the pill and drop of Mr. Ward. For however violent the operations of these medicines are said to have sometimes proved, yet in the present instance, where, without some remedy, destruction seemed inevitable, the experiment at least was thought adviseable: and, therefore, one or both of them at different times were administred to persons in every stage of the distemper. Out of the numbers who took them, one, soon after swallowing the pill, was seized with a violent bleeding at the nose. He was before given over by the surgeon and lay almost at the point of death; but he immediately found himself much better, and continued to recover, tho' slowly, till we arrived on shore, which was near a fortnight after. A few others too were relieved for some days, but the disease returned again with as much virulence as ever. Though neither did these, nor the rest, who received no benefit, appear to be reduced to a worse condition than they would have been if they had taken nothing. The most remarkable property of these medicines, and what was obvious in almost every one that took them, was that they acted in proportion to the vigour of the patient; so that those who were within two or three days of dying were scarcely affected; and as the patient was differently advanced in the disease, the operation was either a gentle perspiration, an { 271} easy vomit, or a moderate purge: but if they were taken by one in full strength, they then produced all the forementioned effects with considerable violence, which sometimes continued for six or eight hours together with little intermission. However, let us return to the prosecution of our voyage.
I have already observed that a few days after our running off the coast of Mexico the _Gloucester_ had her main-mast cut down to a stump, and we were obliged to fish our foremast; and that these misfortunes were greatly aggravated by our meeting with contrary and variable winds for near seven weeks. I shall now add that when we reached the trade-wind, and it settled between the north and the east, yet it seldom blew with so much strength that the _Centurion_ might not have carried all her small sails abroad without the least danger; so that, had we been a single ship, we might have run down our longitude apace, and have arrived at the Ladrones soon enough to have recovered great numbers of our men who afterwards perished. But the _Gloucester_, by the loss of her main-mast, sailed so very heavily that we had seldom any more than our top-sails set, and yet were frequently obliged to lie to for her: and, I conceive, that on the whole we lost little less than a month by our attendance upon her, in consequence of the various mischances she encountered. During all this run it was remarkable that we were rarely many days together without seeing great numbers of birds; which is a proof that there are several islands, or at least rocks, scattered all along, at no very considerable distance from our track: but the frequency of these birds seem to ascertain that there are many more than have been hitherto discovered; for the most part of the birds we observed were such as are known to roost on shore; and the manner of their appearance sufficiently evinced that they came from some distant haunt every morning, and returned thither again in the evening, since we never saw them early or late; and the hour of their arrival and departure gradually varied, which we supposed was occasioned by our running nearer their haunts or getting farther from them.