A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 12 by Robert Kerr

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AN ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, IN THE YEARS 1764, 1765, AND
1766, BY THE HONOURABLE COMMODORE BYRON, IN HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP THE
DOLPHIN.

SECTION I.

_The Passage from the Downs to Rio de Janeiro._

[The longitude in this voyage is reckoned from the meridian of London,
west to 180 degrees, and east afterwards.]

On the 21st of June, 1764, I sailed from the Downs, with his majesty's
ship the Dolphin, and the Tamar frigate, under my command. In coming
down the river, the Dolphin got a-ground; I therefore put into Plymouth,
where she was docked, but did not appear to have received any damage.[7]
At this place, having changed some of our men, and paid the people two
months wages in advance, I hoisted the broad pendant, and sailed again
on the 3d of July; on the 4th we were off the Lizard, and made the best
of our way with a fine breeze, but had the mortification to find the
Tamar a very heavy sailer. In the night of Friday the 6th, the officer
of the first watch saw either a ship on fire, or an extraordinary
phenomenon which greatly resembled it, at some distance: It continued to
blaze for about half an hour, and then disappeared. In the evening of
July the 12th, we saw the rocks near the island of Madeira, which our
people call the Deserters, from Desertes, a name which has been given
them from their barren and desolate appearance: The next day we stood in
for the road of Funchiale, where, about three o'clock in the afternoon,
we came to an anchor. In the morning of the 14th, I waited upon the
governor, who received me with great politeness, and saluted me with
eleven guns, which I returned from the ship. The next day, he returned
my visit at the house of the consul, upon which I saluted him with
eleven guns, which he returned from the fort. I found here his majesty's
ship the Crown, and the Ferret sloop, who also saluted the broad
pendant.

[Footnote 7: In a well-drawn-up account of this voyage, published 1767,
by an officer of the Dolphin, it is said that "her bottom was sheathed
with copper, as were likewise the braces and pintles for the use of the
rudder, which was the first experiment of the kind that had ever been
made on any vessel." This work will be referred to occasionally, and is
certainly deserving of that notice.--E.]

Having completed our water, and procured all the refreshment I was able
for the companies of both the ships, every man having twenty pounds
weight of onions for his sea-stock, we weighed anchor on Thursday the
19th, and proceeded on our voyage. On the 21st, we made the island of
Palma, one of the Canaries, and soon after examining our water, we found
it would be necessary to touch at one of the Cape de Verd islands for a
fresh supply. During the whole of our course from the Lizard, we
observed that no fish followed the ship, which I judged to be owing to
her being sheathed with copper. By the 26th, our water was become foul,
and stunk intolerably, but we purified it with a machine, which had been
put on board for that purpose: It was a kind of ventilator, by which air
was forced through the water in a continual stream, as long as it was
necessary.

In the morning of the 27th, we made the island of Sal, one of the Cape
de Verds, and seeing several turtle upon the water, we hoisted out our
jolly-boat, and attempted to strike them, but they all went down before
our people could come within reach of them. On Monday the 30th, we came
to an anchor in Port Praya bay, the principal harbour in St Jago, the
largest of the Cape de Verd Islands. The rainy season was already set
in, which renders this place very unsafe; a large swell that rolls in
from the southward, makes a frightful surf upon the shore, and there is
reason every hour to expect a tornado, of which, as it is very violent,
and blows directly in, the consequences are likely to be fatal; so that
after the 15th of August no ship comes hither till the rainy season is
over, which happens in November; for this reason I made all possible
haste to fill my water and get away. I procured three bullocks for the
people, but they were little better than carrion, and the weather was so
hot, that the flesh stunk in a few hours after they were killed.

On Thursday the 2d of August, we got again under sail, with a large
cargo of fowls, lean goats, and monkies, which the people contrived to
procure for old shirts, jackets, and other articles of the like kind.[8]
The intolerable heat, and almost incessant rain, very soon affected our
health, and the men began to fall down in fevers, notwithstanding all my
attention and diligence to make them shift themselves before they slept,
when they were wet.

[Footnote 8: "Clothes, particularly those that are black, however mean,
are here an object of ambition and vanity, rendered less necessary by
the warmth of the climate."]

On Wednesday the 8th, the Tamar fired a gun, upon which we shortened
sail till she came up: We found that she had suffered no damage but the
carrying away of her topsail-yard; however, as we were obliged to make
an easy sail till she had got up another, and the wind seemed to be
coming again to the southward, we lost a good deal of way. We continued,
to our great mortification, to observe that no fish would come near
enough to our copper bottom for us to strike, though we saw the sea as
it were quickened with them at a little distance. Ships in these hot
latitudes generally take fish in plenty, but, except sharks, we were not
able to catch one.

On the 11th of September, we made the coast of Brazil; and on the 13th,
anchored in eighteen fathom, in the great road of Rio de Janeiro. The
city, which is large, and makes a handsome appearance, is governed by
the viceroy of Brazil, who is perhaps, in fact, as absolute a sovereign
as any upon earth. When I visited him, he received me in great form;
above sixty officers were drawn up before the palace, as well as a
captain's guard, who were men of a good appearance, and extremely well
clothed: His excellency, with a number of persons of the first
distinction, belonging to the place, met me at the head of the stairs,
upon which fifteen guns were fired from the nearest port: We then
entered the room of state, and, after conversing about a quarter of an
hour in French, I took my leave, and was dismissed with the same form
that had been used at my reception. He offered to return my visit at a
house which I had hired on shore, but this I declined, and soon after he
returned it on board.

The people in my own ship, who had as much fresh meat and greens as they
could eat every day, were very healthy, but there being many sick on
board the Tamar, I procured a place for them on shore, where they soon
recovered. As the seams of both the ships were very open, some
Portuguese caulkers were engaged, who, after having worked some time,
rendered them perfectly tight.[9] While we lay here, Lord Clive, in the
Kent Indiaman, came to the port. This ship had sailed from England a
month before us, and had not touched any where, yet she came in a month
after us; so that her passage was just two months longer than ours,
notwithstanding the time we lost in waiting for the Tamar, which, though
the Dolphin was by no means a good sailer, sailed so much worse, that we
seldom spread more than half our canvas. The Kent had many of her people
down in the scurvy.

[Footnote 9: "We had six, who were paid at the rate of six shillings
sterling a day; though it is certain that one of our English caulkers
would do as much in one day as they could in three; but though they are
slow and inactive, they perform their work very completely, or else
their vessels could not run so many voyages in a shattered condition as
they frequently do."]

On Tuesday the 16th of October, we weighed anchor, being impatient to
get to sea for the heat here was intolerable; but we lay four or five
days above the bar, waiting for the land-breeze to carry us out, for
there is no getting out with the sea-breeze, and the entrance between
the two first forts is so narrow, and so great a sea breaks in upon
them, that it was not without much danger, and difficulty we got out at
last, and if we had followed the advice of the Portuguese pilot, we had
certainly lost the ship.[10] As this narrative is published for the
advantage of future navigators, particularly those of our own nation, it
is also necessary I should observe, that the Portuguese here, carrying
on a great trade, make it their business to attend every time a boat
comes on shore, and practise every artifice in their power to entice
away the crew: if other methods do not succeed, they make them drunk,
and immediately send them up the country, taking effectual care to
prevent their return, till the ship to which they belong has left the
place; by this practice I lost five of my men, and the Tamar nine: Mine
I never recovered, but the Tamar had the good fortune to learn where
her's were detained, and by sending out a party in the night, surprised
them, and brought them back.

[Footnote 10: The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is uncommonly good, and
spacious enough for a large fleet, but the entrance is very narrow, and
requires to be entered with the assistance of a sea-breeze, which
fortunately blows daily from before noon till sun-set. According to
Captain Krusenstern, the harbour of St Catharines in the island of that
name near the Brazil coast, is "infinitely preferable to Rio Janeiro,"
for ships going round Cape Horn.--See his reasons in the account of his
voyage p. 76.--E.]

SECTION II.

_Passage from Rio de Janeiro to Port Desire; with some Description of
that Place._

On Monday the 22d, being now once more at sea, I called all hands upon
deck, and informed them, that I was not, as they imagined, bound
immediately to the East Indies, but upon certain discoveries, which it
was thought might be of great importance to our country; in
consideration of which, the lords commissioners of the Admiralty had
been pleased to promise them double pay, and several other advantages,
if during the voyage they should behave to my satisfaction. They all
expressed the greatest joy imaginable upon the occasion, and assured me,
that there was no danger or difficulty that they would not with the
utmost cheerfulness undergo in the service of their country, nor any
order that I could give them which they would not implicitly and
zealously obey.[11]

[Footnote 11: "We had all the reason possible to believe that we were
bound to the East Indies, and that we should now steer to the Cape of
Good Hope, the scheme being so well concerted by our commodore, as even
to deceive Lord Clive, who pressed him with great importunity to allow
him to take his passage in the Dolphin, we being in much greater
readiness for sea than the Kent; but to this the commodore could not
consent; but flattered his lordship with the hopes of his taking him on
board on their meeting at the Cape."]

We continued our course till Monday the 20th, having frequently hard
gales with sudden gusts, which obliged us to strike our
top-gallant-masts, and get up our stumps; but this day it blew a storm,
with a terrible sea, and the ship laboured so much, that, to ease her, I
ordered the two foremost and two aftermost guns to be thrown overboard:
The gale continued with nearly equal violence all the rest of the day,
and all night, so that we were obliged to lie-to under a double-reefed
main-sail; but in the morning, it being more moderate, and veering from
N.W. to S. by W. we made sail again, and stood to the westward. We were
now in latitude 35 deg.50'S. and found the weather as cold as it is at the
same season in England, although the month of November here is a spring
month, answering to our May, and we were near twenty degrees neater the
Line: To us, who within little more than a week had suffered intolerable
heat, this change was most severely felt: And the men who, supposing
they were to continue in a hot climate during the whole voyage, had
contrived to sell not only all their warm clothes, but their bedding, at
the different ports where we had touched, now applied in great distress
for slops, and were all furnished for the climate.

On Friday the 2d of November, after administering the proper oaths to
the lieutenants of both ships, I delivered them their commissions; for
till this time they acted only under verbal orders from me, and expected
to receive their commissions in India, whither they imagined we were
bound. We now began to see a great number of birds about the ship, many
of them very large, of which some were brown and white, and some black:
There were among them large flocks of pintadoes, which are somewhat
larger than a pigeon, and spotted with black and white. On the 4th, we
saw a great quantity of rock weed, and several seals: The prevailing
winds were westerly, so that being continually driven to the eastward,
we foresaw that it would not be easy to get in with the coast of
Patagonia. On the 10th, we observed the water to change colour, but we
had no ground with one hundred and forty fathom. The next day we stood
in for the land till eight in the evening, when we had ground of red
sand with forty-five fathom. We steered S.W. by W. all night, and the
next morning had fifty-two fathom with the same ground: Our latitude now
being 42 deg.34' S., longitude 58 deg.17' W., the variation 11 deg.1/4 E.

On Monday the 12th, about four o'clock in the afternoon, as I was
walking on the quarter-deck, all the people upon the forecastle called
out at once, "Land right a-head;" it was then very black almost round
the horizon, and we had had much thunder and lightning; I looked forward
under the fore-sail, and upon the lee-bow, and saw what at first
appeared to be an island, rising in two rude craggy hills, but upon
looking to leeward I saw land joining to it, and running a long way to
the south-east: We were then steering S.W. and I sent officers to the
mast-head to look out upon the weather-beam, and they called out that
they saw land also a great way to the windward. I immediately brought
to, and sounded; we had still fifty-two fathom, but I thought that we
were embayed, and rather wished than hoped that we should get clear
before night. We made sail and steered E.S.E. the land still having the
same appearance, and the hills looking blue, as they generally do at a
little distance in dark rainy weather, and now many of the people said
that they saw the sea break upon the sandy beaches; but having steered
out for about an hour, what we had taken for land vanished all at once,
and to our astonishment appeared to have been a fog-bank. Though I had
been almost continually at sea for seven-and-twenty years, I had never
seen such a deception before; others, however, have been equally
deceived; for the master of a ship not long since made oath, that he had
seen an island between the west end of Ireland and Newfoundland, and
even distinguished the trees that grew upon it Yet it is certain that no
such island exists, at least it could never be found, though several
ships were afterwards sent out on purpose to seek it. And I am sure,
that if the weather had not cleared up soon enough for us to see what we
had taken for land disappear, every man on board would freely have made
oath, that land had been discovered in this situation.

The next day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the weather being
extremely fine, the wind shifted at once to the S.W. and began to blow
fresh, the sky at the same time becoming black to windward: In a few
minutes all the people that were upon the deck were alarmed with a
sudden and unusual noise, like the breaking of the sea upon the shore. I
ordered the top-sails to be handed immediately; but before it could be
done, I saw the sea approaching at some distance, in vast billows
covered with foam; I called to the people to haul up the fore-sail, and
let go the main-sheet instantly; for I was persuaded that if we had any
sail out when the gust reached us, we should either be overset, or lose
all our masts. It reached us, however, before we could raise the main
tack, and laid us upon our beam-ends; the main tack was then cut for it
was become impossible to cast it off; and the main sheet struck down the
first lieutenant, bruised him dreadfully, and beat out three of his
teeth: the main-topsail, which was not quite handed, was split to
pieces. If this squall, which came on with less warning and more
violence than any I had ever seen, had taken us in the night, I think
the ship must have been lost. When it came on we observed several
hundred of birds flying before it, which expressed their terror by loud
shrieks; it lasted about twenty minutes, and then gradually subsided.
The Tamar split her main-sail, but as she was to leeward of us, she had
more time to prepare. In a short time it began to blow very hard again,
so that we reefed our main-sail, and lay-to all night. As morning
approached the gale became more moderate, but we had still a great sea,
and the wind shifting to S. by W. we stood to the westward under our
courses. Soon after it was light, the sea appeared as red as blood,
being covered with a small shell-fish of that colour, somewhat
resembling our cray-fish, but less, of which we took up great quantities
in baskets.

At half an hour past four in the morning of the 15th of November, we saw
land, which had the appearance of an island about eight or nine leagues
long, there being no land in sight either to the northward or southward,
though by the charts it should be Cape Saint Helena, which projects from
the coast to a considerable distance, and forms two bays, one to the
north, and the other to the south. As the weather was very fine, I
tacked and stood in for it about ten o'clock; but as there were many
sunken rocks at about two leagues distance from it, upon which the sea
broke very high, and the wind seemed to be gradually dying away, I
tacked again and stood off. The land appeared to be barren and rocky,
without either tree or bush: When I was nearest to it I sounded, and had
forty-five fathom, with black muddy ground. To my great misfortune, my
three lieutenants and the master were at this time so ill as to be
incapable of duty, though the rest of the ship's company were in good
health.

The next day I shaped my course by the chart in the account of Lord
Anson's voyage, for Cape Blanco. In the evening it blew extremely hard
at S.W. by S. so that we brought to for the night under our main-sail.
In the morning we made sail again, but we had a great sea; and although,
it was now almost Midsummer in these parts, the weather was, in every
respect, much worse than it is in the Bay of Biscay at the depth of
winter. About six in the evening, having carried all the sail I could,
we made land, bearing about S.S.W. which, as we had a good observation
of the sun, we knew to be Cape Blanco; but it now began to blow with
more violence than ever, and the storm continued all night, with a sea
that was continually breaking over us, so that the ship laboured very
much. At four in the morning, we sounded and had forty fathom, with
rocky ground; having stood off in the night, we now wore and stood in
again, the storm still continuing with hail and snow; and about six
o'clock we saw the land again, bearing S.W. by W. The ship was now so
light, that in a gale of wind she drove bodily to leeward; so that I was
very solicitous to get into Port Desire,[12] that I might put her hold
in order, and take in sufficient ballast, to avoid the danger of being
caught upon a lee-shore in her present trim. We steered in for the land
with the wind at N.E. and in the evening brought to; but the wind coming
to the westward, we were driven off in the night. At seven the next
morning, we stood in again, steering S.W. by S. by the compass, and soon
perceived the sea to break right a-head of us; we immediately sounded,
and shoaled our water from thirteen to seven fathom, soon after
deepening it again from seventeen to forty-two; so that we went over the
end of a shoal, which a little farther to the northward might have been
fatal to us. Cape Blanco at this time bore W.S.W. 1/2 S. distant four
leagues: But we were still at a loss for Port Desire, it being
impossible that any description should be more confused than that which
Sir John Narborough has given of this harbour. I stood into a bay to the
southward of the cape, as he directs, but could find no such place; I
therefore stood along the shore to the southward, the wind blowing off
the land very hard, and saw several large columns of smoke rising in
many places, but no tree or bush, the country resembling in appearance
the barren downs of England. We observed also that the water was
frequently very shallow at the distance of seven or eight miles from the
shore, for we had many times not more than ten fathom.

[Footnote 12: So called after the name of his ship, the Desire, by Sir
Thomas Candish, or Cavendish, who put in there on the 27th of November,
1586. See vol. x.p. 70--E.]

We continued to stand along the shore all day as near as possible, and
in the evening we saw an island at the distance of about six leagues; in
the morning we stood in for it, and found that it corresponded with
Narborough's description of Penguin Island. As Port Desire is said to
lie about three leagues north-west of this island, I sent the boat to
look for it, and when she returned, having found it, I stood in for the
land. There were thousands of seals and penguins about the ship, and
near Penguin Island several smaller islands, or rather rocks. In the
evening we saw a remarkable rock, rising from the water like a steeple,
on the south side of the entrance of Port Desire; this rock is an
excellent mark to know the harbour, which it would otherwise be
difficult to find. At night, there being little wind, we anchored at the
distance of four or five miles from the shore; and in the morning, with
a breeze from the land, we turned up the harbour's mouth; we found it
very narrow, with many rocks and shoals about it, and the most rapid
tide I had ever known. I came to an anchor off the harbour in nine
fathom, the entrance of the river being open, and bearing W.S.W. Penguin
Island S.E. 1/2 E. distant about three leagues; the Steeple Rock S.W.
by. W. the northermost land N.N.W. and two rocks, which are covered at
half tide, and lie at the southermost extremity of a reef which runs
from the same land, N.E. by N. I mention all these bearings
particularly, because I think it may be of importance to future
navigators, especially as the descriptions that have been given of this
place by the few who have already visited it, are extremely defective.
The wind blew very hard the greater part of this day, and there ran an
ugly sea where we were stationed, yet I ordered our two boats to sound
the harbour, and attended in my own boat myself. We found it very narrow
for near two miles, with a tide running at the rate of eight miles an
hour; we found also many rocks and shoals, but all the danger shows
itself above water. When we came to the shore I landed, and walked a
little way into the country, which as far as I could see was all downs,
without a single tree or shrub. We saw the dung of many beasts, and had
a glimpse of four, which ran away as soon as we came in sight, so that
we could not certainly determine what they were; but we believed them to
be guanicoes, many of which we afterwards saw come down to the
water-side; they resemble our deer, but are much larger, the height of
some being not less than thirteen hands; they are very shy and very
swift. After I returned to my boat, I went farther up the harbour, and
landed upon an island that was covered with seals, of which we killed
above fifty, and among them many that were larger than a bullock, having
before half-loaded our boat with different kinds of birds, of which, and
seals, there are enough to supply the navy of England. Among the birds
one was very remarkable; the head resembled that of an eagle, except
that it had a large comb upon it; round the neck there was a white ruff,
exactly resembling a lady's tippet; the feathers on the back were as
black as jet, and as bright as the finest polish could render that
mineral; the legs were remarkably strong and large, the talons were like
those of an eagle, except that they were not so sharp, and the wings,
when they were extended, measured from point to point no less than
twelve feet.

The Tamar worked into the harbour with the tide of flood, but I kept my
station with the Dolphin till I should have a leading wind, and the wind
shifting to the eastward, I weighed about five o'clock in the afternoon,
intending to go up with the evening flood: Before I could get under
sail, however, the wind shifted again to N.W. by N. and it being low
water, the ship lying but just within the harbour, and there being no
tide to assist us, we were obliged to anchor near the south shore. The
wind came off the land in very hard flaws, and in a short time our
anchor coming home, the ship tailed on shore against a steep gravelly
beach. The anchoring ground, indeed, as far as we had yet sounded, was
bad, being very hard; so that, in this situation, if the wind blows
fresh, there is always the greatest reason to fear that the anchor
should come home before the ship can be brought up. While we were on
shore, it began to blow very hard, and the tide running like a sluice,
it was with the utmost difficulty that we could carry an anchor to heave
us off; however, after about four hours hard labour, this was effected,
and the ship floated in the stream. As there was only about six or seven
feet of the after-part of her that touched the ground, there was reason
to hope that she had suffered no damage; however, I determined to unhang
the rudder, that it might be examined.