the Governor received him with much politeness and gave him permission to
replenish his ship. While in this port Grant discovered that the second
mate had sown seeds of discontent among his crew, so he promptly handed
him over to the Governor to be sent back to England. Two boys, however,
deserted and ran off with a boat. Several parties were sent out in search
of them by the Governor, and the two deserters were eventually caught and
brought home by the natives--both riding on one ass. The sight of the
bluejackets in such a predicament vastly amused the Portuguese seamen in
port, who ridiculed them to such an extent that Grant did not think it
necessary to punish them further. Grant describes the natives of Port
Praya as resembling negroes, and remarks that the females seemed to spend
their time in spinning cotton from a distaff with a spindle. The ship's
keels were examined here and one found to be broken, but the repairs,
owing to the assistance given by the Governor, were finished in two days.

Having taken in a sufficient supply of water, the Lady Nelson left St.
Iago on April 27th. The Governor, who seems to have been most polite and
obliging to everybody, permitted two Portuguese sailors to be entered on
her muster-roll, which brought her crew up to twelve. Soon after leaving
port, one of the seamen became ill, and as his temperature rose very high
the commander gave orders for him to be immediately isolated, though he
was fortunately cured in four days. The food served to the men then
underwent some alteration. It was thought that oatmeal was too heating in
the humid weather of the tropics, and tea was substituted for it at
breakfast, wine supplemented with spruce beer being issued instead of
spirits. Not one man fell sick afterwards.

As the ship neared the Equator various cross-currents were frequently met
with, and "heavy squalls with rain" and a very disagreeable sea arose,
the result of a sudden change of wind from north-north-east to south-west