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Ab163
Dr Sir
In some measure to [attone?] for not answering your very friendly letter before we saild I beg your acceptance of the following short account of our voyage to this time. As far as I was an eye witness or informd by officers of probity in the Fleet.
We sailed from Spithead on the morning of Sunday 15th May 1781 & ran down channel with a fair wind. The Supply very deep laden with stores, which as we met with some blowing weather, made us rather uncomfortable, being constantly wet. His Majesty's Ship Hyena accompanied us clear of the channel & on the 20th left us, we being near 100 leaguesfrom the land. The irons were then taken off all the convicts (such only excepted as had behavd ill) with permission to come upon deck & take the air when ever they pleasd during the day. The weather was now fine & the wind fair. On the 31st of May we passd the Island [Madeira?] and on the 4th of June anchord in Santa Cruz Bay, at the Island of Teneriffe, where the greatest dispatch was made to water & get refreshments for the Fleet, which detaind us there six days. The town of Santa Crus is the capital of the Canarys & subject to Spain. It has a small fort at each end of it & a few [stragling?] guns behind it. The town makes a very decent appearance from the ship in the bay, about a mile from it. But when in the town it looks very shabby. The only good building is the church. Here we got every necessary refreshment except fruit which was not in season. [?] wine very cheap & good. Their market is held in the middle of the town. The inhabitants a few excepted are very poor. Their military force is small, consisting chiefly of natives, except the Governor & a few officers, who have their appointments from Spain. The day before we saild, a convict made his escape from the ship he was in by cutting a small boat from her sideearly in the night & got on shore unseen. However a party of marines were sent on shore in the morning by the Governor's permission, who found him about 9 miles from the town conceald in a cave. We saild on Sunday the 10th & by the fineness of the weather were gratifyd with a sight of the famous pike of Teneriffe distinct & clear of clouds which [seldom happens ?] on the top of a very high mountain. Snow lay round the foot of it but its top was clear & looks like brown rock with deep furrows in it. At sea it has a very sublime appearance. I am informd that the adjacent coast of Barbary can be seen from its summit to the distance of 150 miles or more.
We directed our course for the Cape de Verd Islands & on the 19th of June