RIGAFETTa’s VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.

3°3

lead the van ; and, in order that the other veffels fhould not lofe fight of it during thenight, he had a torch of wood called farol, burning on the poop. If befides thefarol he lighted a lanthorn, or a rope made of rulhes # , the other veffels were to dothe fame, that he might be certain of their following him. When he Ihewedtwo lights without the farol, the veffels were to alter their courfe, either to make flowerprogrefs, or on account of adverfe winds. When three fires were lighted, it was thefignal for lowering the bonnet f, a fail affixed beneath the mainfail in fine weather toaccelerate the fpeed of the fhip. The bonnet is lowered when a ftorm is threatened, inorder that it may not be in the way of the mariners on reefing the mainfail. If fourlights were (hewn, it was a fignal to take in all the fails ; but if they were previouflyreefed, thefe fires were a direction for fetting them. A greater number of lights, or thefiring of a few bombards J, denoted the approach to land or (hallows, and, confe-quently, that much caution was to be ufed in fleering. He'had alfo another fignal forcalling anchor.

The night was divided into three watches, the firfl at the beginning of night; thefecond, called medora, taking place at midnight; and the third towards the morningsThe crew in confequence were formed into three divifions : the firfl watch was underthe orders of the captain ; the pilot commanded the fecond, and the mafler the third.The commander in chief enforced the molt rigid difcipline, the better to fecure fuccefsto the voyage.

Monday morning the xoth Augufl 1519, the fquadron having every thing requifiteon board, and a complement of two hundred and thirty-feven men, its departure wasannounced by a difcharge of artillery, and the forefail was fet. We dropped downthe river Betis to the bridge of Guadalquivir , paffing near Juan d’Alfaraz, formerly athickly-peopled city belonging to the Moors, where there was a bridge, of which noveflige now remains but two piers, which are yet Handing in the river below the fur-face, and which muff be guarded againfl ; indeed, in order to run no hazard, thispart fhould not be navigated without pilots on board, and but at high water.

Continuing to defcend the Betis we paffed by Coria, and feveral other villages toSanLucar , a caflle belonging to the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Here is the port whichopens on the ocean, ten leagues diflam from Cape St. Vincent , in thirty-feven degreesof latitude north. From Sevilla to this port the diflance is feventeen to twentyleagues §.

Some days after the commander in chief, and the captains of the other veffels,arrived in boats at San Lucar from Sevilla ; and the flock of provifions was completed.Every morning we landed to hear mafs in the church of N. D. de Barrameda ; and

* This kind of rope is called in Spanifh ilrenghe, ; and is made of a fpecies of efparto, which is firft wellfoaked in water and afterwards dried in the fun or in fmoak j it is well adapted for the objtft in view.Amor.

•j- In order the better to explain certain fea-terms but little underllood, the figure of the fhip B, in 2plate annexed is given. This figure is copied from a drawing in one of the charts of Monti, with thisinfcription : A 'a-ve Vittoria fu cut il cav. Pigafetta feci il giro delglobo. A is the mizen-matf, B the main-maft, C the gallery for the centinel on the look-out, D the foremaft, E the poop, F the forecaftle, G theanchor, H the bonnet, or Hay fail, whicb then was placed under the mainfail, but which now is fixed onthe fide. Amor.

f Pigafetta conflantly vtfes the term bombards; hut it is well known that, at this time, the denomina"tion of bombards was given to cannon, and that cannon were oftentimes loaded with ftones in lieu of fhot.Amor.

§ The league ufed by our author is that of fifteen to the degree of latitude, as will more diftinftly befesn as we proceed.— Amor. It is equal to 4.64 Englifh miles and decimals. Eng. Tr.

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