By the utmost
exertions, we saved ourselves from being carried out to sea, and
were glad to reach the leewardmost point of the island, where we
came-to, and prepared to pass another night, more uncomfortable than
the first, for we were loaded up to the gunwale, and had only a choice
among logs and sticks for a resting-place. The next morning, we made
sail at slack water, with a fair wind, and got on board by eleven
o'clock, when all hands were turned-to, to unload and stow away the
wood, which took till night.
Having now taken in all our wood, the next morning a waterparty
was ordered off with all the casks. From this we escaped, having had a
pretty good siege with the wooding. The water-party were gone three
days, during which time they narrowly escaped being carried out to
sea, and passed one day on an island, where one of them shot a deer,
great numbers of which overrun the islands and hills of San
Francisco Bay.
While not off, on these wood and water parties, or up the rivers
to the missions, we had very easy times on board the ship. We were
moored, stem and stern, within a cable's length of the shore, safe
from south-easters, and with very little boating to do; and as it
rained nearly all the time, awnings were put over the hatchways, and
all hands sent down between decks, where we were at work, day after
day, picking oakum, until we got enough to caulk the ship all over,
and to last the whole voyage.
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