accident to put into Lisbon, Leger
escaped on shore, and was by the British consul sent from thence to
England; where he brought the first authentic account of the safety of
the commodore, and of what he had done in the South Seas. The relation
he gave of his own seizure was, that he had rambled into the woods
at some distance from the barricade, where he had first attempted to
pass, but had been stopped and threatened to be punished; that his
principal view was to get a quantity of limes for his master's store;
and that in this occupation he was surprised by four Indians, who
stripped him naked, and carried him in that condition to Acapulco,
exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, which at that time of the
year shone with its greatest violence: And afterwards at Mexico his
treatment in prison was sufficiently severe, and the whole course
of his captivity was a continued instance of the hatred which the
Spaniards bear to all those who endeavour to disturb them in the
peaceable possession of the coasts of the South Seas. Indeed, Leger's
fortune was upon the whole extremely singular; for after the hazards
he had run in the commodore's squadron, and the severities he had
suffered in his long confinement amongst the enemy, a more fatal
disaster attended him on his return to England: For though, when he
arrived in London, some of Mr Anson's friends interested themselves in
relieving him from the poverty to which his captivity had reduced him,
yet he did not long enjoy the benefit of their humanity, for he was
killed in an insignificant night brawl, the cause of which could
scarcely be discovered.

And here I must observe, that though the enemy never appeared in sight
during our stay in this harbour; yet we perceived that there were
large parties encamped in the woods about us; for we could see their
smokes, and could thence determine that they were posted in a circular
line surrounding us at a distance; and just before our coming away
they seemed, by the increase of their fires, to have received a
considerable reinforcement.

Towards the latter end of April, the unloading of our three prizes,
our wooding and watering, and, in short, all our proposed employments
at the harbour of Chequetan were completed: So that, on the 27th of
April, the Tryal's prize, the Carmelo, and the Carmin, all which we
intended to destroy, were towed on shore and scuttled, and a quantity
of combustible materials were distributed in their upper w