Page:Colnett - Voyage to the South Pacific (IA cihm 33242).djvu/136

 When the marine tores, &c. were brought by the way of Europe and Vera Cruz, a ditance of eighteen hundred miles, on the backs of mules, Acapulco was the grand dock-yard; but ince thee upplies for the navy have been procured at a far cheaper rate by the way of China and Manilla, the naval arenal has been removed to Saint Blas; before I left that place, the Viceroy of Mexico was o alarmed, leat the Court of Great-Britain hould revenge the inult offered her by the capture of my veels, that, fearful of truting to his flat-floored veels, &c. &c. he had ordered two heavy frigates of a harp contruction, to be built in the valley of Banderra, which is ituated a few leagues to the Eat of Cape Corientes, for the better protection of the arenal.

As I conceived it would be an act of the greatet imprudence to anchor even near a Spanih port, I determined to return to the Ile Socoro, in order to recover the health of the crew. We made the ile on the twelfth day of November, and by the evening got wet up with the North end; the Ile Santo Berto being only eight leagues ditance, and my not having had opportunity to acertain whether it afforded a better anchoring place than Socoro, determined me to examine it. We lay too all night for day-break, to make ail, and by noon, got within three or four miles of the South end of