How Canoes are Made

After cutting down a large long tree, and squaring the uppermost side, it is turned on the flat side to shape the opposite side for the bottom.

Then again they turn her, and dig the inside; boring also three holes in the bottom, one before, one in the middle, and one abaft, thereby to gauge the thickness of the bottom; for otherwise we might cut the bottom thinner than is convenient.

We left the bottoms commonly about three inches thick, and the sides two inches thick below and one and a half at the top. One or both of the ends we sharpen to a point.

Captain Davis made two very large canoes; one was 36 foot long and five or six feet wide; the other 32 foot long and near as wide as the other.

In a month’s time we finished our business and were ready to sail. Here Captain Harris went to lay his ship aground to clean her, but she being old and rotten fell in pieces: and therefore he and all his men went aboard of Captain Davis and Captain Swan. While we lay here we struck turtle every day, for they were now very plentiful: but from August to March here are not many.

On July 18, John Rose, a Frenchman, and 14 men more belonging to Captain Gronet, having made a new canoe, came in her to Captain Davis, and desired to serve under him; and Captain Davis accepted of them because they had a canoe of their own.

The Coast And Winds Between Quibo And Nicoya

On July 20, we sailed from Quibo, bending our course for Realejo, which is the port for Leon, the city that we now designed to attempt.

We were now 640 men in eight sail of ships, commanded by Captain Davis, Captain Swan, Captain Townley, and Captain Knight, with a fire-ship and three tenders, which last had not a constant crew.

We passed out between the river Quibo and the Rancheria, leaving Quibo and Quicaro on our larboard side, and the Rancheria, with the rest of the islands and the Main on our starboard side.

The wind at first was at south-south-west: we coasted along shore, passing by the Gulf of Nicoya, the Gulf of Dulce, and by the island Caneo.

All this coast is low land overgrown with thick woods, and there are but few inhabitants near the shore.

As we sailed to the westward we had variable winds, sometimes south-west and at west-south-west, and sometimes at east-north-east, but we had them most commonly at south-west. We had a tornado or two every day, and in the evening or in the night we had land-winds at north-north-east.

Volcan Viejo Again

On August 8, we were in the latitude of 11 degrees 20 minutes by observation, we saw a high hill in the country, towering up like a sugar-loaf, which bore north-east by north.

We supposed it to be Volcan Viejo by the smoke which ascended from its top; therefore we steered in north and made it plainer, and then knew it to be that volcano, which is the sea-mark for the harbour for Realejo; for, as I said before in Chapter 5, it is a very remarkable mountain. When we had brought this mountain to bear north-east we got out all our canoes and provided to embark into them the next day.

The 9th day in the morning, being about eight leagues from the shore, we left our ships under the charge of a few men, and 520 of us went away in 31 canoes, rowing towards the harbour of Realejo.

TORNADOES, AND THE SEA ROUGH. REALEJO HARBOUR

We had fair weather and little wind till two o’clock in the afternoon, then we had a tornado from the shore, with much thunder, lightning and rain, and such a gust of wind that we were all like to be foundered. In this extremity we put right afore the wind, every canoe’s crew making what shift they could to avoid the threatening danger. The small canoes, being most light and buoyant, mounted nimbly over the surges, but the great heavy canoes lay like logs in the sea, ready to be swallowed by every foaming billow. Some of our canoes were half full of water yet kept two men constantly heaving it out.

The fierceness of the wind continued about half an hour and abated by degrees; and as the wind died away so the fury of the sea abated: for in all hot countries, as I have observed, the sea is soon raised by the wind, and as soon down again when the wind is gone, and therefore it is a proverb among the seamen: Up wind, up sea, down wind, down sea. At seven o’clock in the evening it was quite calm, and the sea as smooth as a mill-pond. Then we tugged to get in to the shore, but, finding we could not do it before day, we rowed off again to keep ourselves out of sight. By that time it was day we were five leagues from the land, which we thought was far enough off shore.

Here we intended to lie till the evening, but at three o’clock in the afternoon we had another tornado, more fierce than that which we had the day before. This put us in greater peril of our lives, but did not last so long. As soon as the violence of the tornado was over we rowed in for the shore and entered the harbour in the night: the creek which leads towards Leon lies on the south-east side of the harbour. Our pilot, being very well acquainted here, carried us into the mouth of it, but could carry us no farther till day because it is but a small creek, and there are other creeks like it.

The next morning as soon as it was light we rowed into the creek, which is very narrow; the land on both sides lying so low that every tide it is overflown with the sea.

This sort of land produces red mangrove-trees, which are here so plentiful and thick that there is no passing through them. Beyond these mangroves, on the firm land close by the side of the river, the Spaniards have built a breast-work, purposely to hinder an enemy from the landing.

When we came in sight of the breast-work we rowed as fast as we could to get ashore: the noise of our oars alarmed the Indians who were set to watch, and presently they ran away towards the city of Leon to give notice of our approach. We landed as soon as we could and marched after them: 470 men were drawn out to march to the town, and I was left with 59 men more to stay and guard the canoes till their return.