DECEMBER 28.
Having left Porto Rico behind us, at noon to-day we passed
the insulated rock of Alcavella, lying about six miles from St.
Domingo, which is now in sight, As this part of the Caribbean
Sea is much infested by pirates from the Caraccas, all our muskets have
been put in repair, and
to-day the guns were loaded, of
which we mount eight; but as one of them, during the last
voyage, went overboard in a gale of wind, its place has been
supplied by a Quaker, i. e. a sham gun of wood-so called, I
suppose, because it would not fight if it were called upon. These
pirate vessels are small schooners, armed with a single twenty-four pounder, which moves upon a swivel; and their crews are
composed of negroes and outlaws of all nations, their numbers
varying from one hundred to one hundred and fifty men. To-day we have been visited by several men-of-war birds and tropic
birds; one is a species of gull, perfectly white, and distinguished
by a single very long feather in its tail; its nautical name is
the boatswain."
As we sail along, the air is absolutely loaded with "Sabean
odours from the spicy shores" of St. Domingo, which we were
still coasting at sunset.
