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

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

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[Footnote 18: Now for the goblins, the giants of Patagonia! Some account
of the controversy about them is reserved for another place. In the mean
time the reader may amuse himself with the following notices in addition
to the substance of the text; they are extracted from the account of
this voyage, already referred to in the preceding notes. "On our first
approaching the coast, evident signs of fear appeared among those in the
boat, on seeing men of such enormous size, while some, perhaps to
encourage the rest, observed that these gigantic people were as much
surprised at the sight of our muskets, as we were at seeing them, though
it is highly probable they did not know their use, and had never heard
the report of a gun. But this was sufficient to remind us, that our
fire-arms gave us an advantage much superior to that derived from
height of stature and personal strength."--"The commodore and chief
officers entered upon a short consultation on the propriety of landing.
The first officer, fired with the thoughts of making a full discovery in
regard to these Indians, who have been so much the subject of
conversation among the English, made a motion to approach nearer and
jump on shore; but the commodore objected to it, and would not suffer
any man to go before himself."--"Immediately on our landing, they came
about us to the number of two hundred or more, looking at us with
evident marks of surprise, and smiling, as it should seem, at the great
disproportion of our stature."--"They were so delighted with the
different trinkets, which they had an opportunity of viewing, as they
hung round their necks, and fell down before their bosoms, that the
commodore could scarcely restrain them from caressing him, particularly
the women, whose large and masculine features corresponded with the
enormous size of their bodies. _Their middle stature seemed to be about
8 feet; their extreme 9 and upwards_; though he did not measure them by
_any standard_, and had reason to believe them rather more than
less."--"The commodore himself measures full six feet, and though he
stood on tip-toe, he could but just reach the crown of one of the
Indians' heads, who was not, _by far_, the tallest among them."--"They
seemed particularly pleased with Lieutenant Cumming, on account of his
stature he being 6 feet 2 inches high, and some of them patted him on
the shoulder, but their hands fell with such force, that it affected his
whole frame." The two last paragraphs, with more to the same effect, are
given in a note, and are said to have been communicated by gentlemen who
were present on this occasion. It is right to add that their names are
not mentioned. So much at present for these monsters.--E.]

These people, however, were not wholly strangers to European
commodities, for upon a closer attention, I perceived among them one
woman who had bracelets either of brass, or very pale gold, upon her
arms, and some beads of blue glass, strung upon two long queues of hair,
which being parted at the top, hung down over each shoulder before her:
She was of a most enormous size, and her face was, if possible, more
frightfully painted than the rest. I had a great desire to learn where
she got her beads and bracelets, and enquired by all the signs I could
devise, but found it impossible to make myself understood. One of the
men shewed me the bowl of a tobacco-pipe, which was made of a red earth,
but I soon found that they had no tobacco among them; and this person
made me understand that he wanted some: Upon this I beckoned to my
people, who remained upon the beach, drawn up as I had left them, and,
three or four of them ran forward, imagining that I wanted them. The
Indians, who, as I had observed, kept their eyes almost continually upon
them, no sooner saw some of them advance, than they all rose up with a
great clamour, and were leaving the place, as I supposed to get their
arms, which were probably left at a little distance: To prevent
mischief, therefore, and put an end to the alarm, which had thus
accidentally been spread among them, I ran to meet the people who were,
in consequence of my signal, coming from the beach, and as soon as I was
within hearing I hallooed to them, and told them that I would have only
one come up with all the tobacco that he could collect from the rest. As
soon as the Indians saw this, they recovered from their surprise, and
every one returned to his station, except a very old man, who came up to
me, and sung a long song, which I much regretted my not being able to
understand: Before the song was well finished, Mr Cumming came up with
the tobacco, and I could not but smile at the astonishment which I saw
expressed in his countenance, upon perceiving himself, though six feet
two inches high, become at once a pigmy among giants; for these people
may indeed more properly be called giants than tall men. Of the few
among us who are full six feet high, scarcely any are broad and muscular
in proportion to their stature, but look rather like men of the common
bulk, run up accidentally to an unusual height; and a man who should
measure only six feet two inches, and equally exceed a stout well-set
man of the common stature in breadth and muscle, would strike us rather
as being of a gigantic race, than as an individual accidentally
anomalous; our sensations therefore, upon seeing five hundred people,
the shortest of whom were at least four inches taller, and bulky in
proportion, may be easily imagined. After I had presented the tobacco,
four or five of the chief men came up to me, and, as I understood by the
signs they made, wanted me to mount one of the horses, and go with them
to their habitations, but as it would upon every account have been
imprudent to comply, I made signs in return that I must go back to the
ship; at this they expressed great concern, and sat down in their
stations again. During our pantomimical conference, an old man often
laid his head down upon the stones, and shutting his eyes for about half
a minute, afterwards pointed first to his mouth, and then to the hills,
meaning, as I imagined, that if I would stay with them till the morning
they would furnish me with some provisions, but this offer I was
obliged to decline. When I left them, not one of them offered to follow
us, but as long as I could see them continued to sit quietly in their
places. I observed that they had with them a great number of dogs, with
which I suppose they chase the wild animals which serve them for food.
The horses were not large, nor in good case, yet they appeared to be
nimble and well broken. The bridle was a leathern thong, with a small
piece of wood that served for a bit, and the saddles resembled the pads
that are in use among the country people in England. The women rode
astride, and both men and women without stirrups; yet they galloped
fearlessly over the spit upon which we landed, the stones of which were
large, loose, and slippery.

SECTION IV.

_Passage up the Strait of Magellan to Port Famine; with some Account of
that Harbour, and the adjacent Coast._

Soon after I returned on board I got under way, and worked up the
strait, which is here about nine leagues broad, with the flood, not with
a view to pass through it, but in search of some place where I might get
a supply of wood and water, not chasing to trust wholly to the finding
of Falkland's Islands, which I determined afterwards to seek. About
eight in the evening, the tide of ebb beginning to make, I anchored in
five-and-twenty fathoms. Point Possession bore N.N.E. at about three
miles distance, and some remarkable hummocks on the north, which
Bulkeley, from their appearance, has called the Asses Ears, W. 1/2 N.

At three in the morning of the 22d we weighed with the wind at E. and
steered S.W. by W. about twelve miles. During this course we went over a
bank, of which no notice has hitherto been taken: At one time we had but
six fathoms and a half, but in two or three casts we had thirteen. When
our water, was shallowest, the Asses Ears bore N.W. by W. 1/2 W. distant
three leagues, and the north point of the first narrow W. by S. distant
between five and six miles. We then steered S.W. by S. near six miles
to the entrance of the first narrow, and afterwards S.S.W. about six
miles, which brought us through: The tide here was so strong that the
passage was very rapid.[19] During this course we saw a single Indian
upon the south shore, who kept waving to us as long as we were in sight;
we saw also some guanicoes upon the hills, though Wood, in the account
of his voyage, says there were none upon that shore. As soon as we had
passed the first narrow we entered a little sea, for we did not come in
sight of the entrance of the second narrow till we had run two leagues.
The distance from the first to the second narrow is about eight leagues,
and the course S.W. by W.[20] The land is very high on the north side of
the second narrow, which continues for about five leagues, and we
steered through it S.W. 1/2 W. with soundings from twenty to
five-and-twenty fathoms: We went out of the west end of this narrow
about noon, and steered south about three leagues for Elizabeth's
island; but the wind then coming right against us, we anchored in seven
fathoms. The island bore S.S.E. distant about a mile, and Bartholomew's
island bore E.S.E. In the evening, six Indians upon the island came down
to the water side, and continued waving and hallooing to us for a long
time; but as my people wanted rest, I was unwilling to employ them in
hoisting out a boat, and the Indians, seeing their labour fruitless, at
length went away. While we were steering from Point Possession to the
first narrow, the flood set to the southward, but as soon as we entered
the narrow, it set strongly over to the north shore: It flows here at
the full and change of the moon about ten o'clock. Between the first and
the second narrow the flood sets to the S.W. and the ebb to the N.E.;
after the west end of the second narrow is past, the course, with a
leading wind, is S. by E. three leagues. Between the islands of
Elizabeth and Saint Bartholomew the channel is about half a mile
over,[21] and the water is deep. We found the flood set very strongly to
the southward, with a great rippling, but round the islands the tides
set many different ways.

[Footnote 19: "This narrow is about three miles over, and is the
narrowest part of the straits." Wallis agrees as to the former
remark--E.]

[Footnote 20: "At the entrance, or east end of the second narrow, lies
Cope Gregory, which is a white cliff of a moderate height, and a little
to the northward of it is a sandy bay, in which you may ride in eight
fathoms water, with very good anchorage." "At the west end of the second
narrow on the south shore, is a white headland, called Sweepstakes
Foreland." See also Wallis.--E.]

[Footnote 21: The other work says a mile and a half.--E.]

In the morning of the 23d we weighed with the wind at S. by W. and worked
between Elizabeth and Bartholomew's island: Before the tide was spent we
got over upon the north shore, and anchored in ten fathom. Saint
George's island then bore N.E. by N. distant three leagues; a point of
land, which I called _Porpois Point_, N. by W, distant about five miles;
and the southermost land S. by E. distant about two miles. In the
evening we weighed and steered S. by E. about five miles along the north
shore, at about one mile's distance, with regular soundings, from seven
to thirteen fathom, and every where good ground. At ten o'clock at night
we anchored in thirteen fathom; Sandy Point then bearing S. by E.
distant four miles; Porpois Point W.N.W. three leagues; and Saint
George's island N.E. four leagues. All along this shore the flood sets
to the southward; at the full and change of the moon it flows about
eleven o'clock, and the water rises about fifteen feet.

The next morning I went out in my boat in search of Fresh Water Bay; I
landed with my second lieutenant upon Sandy Point, and having sent the
boat along the shore, we walked abreast of her.[22] Upon the point we
found plenty of wood, and very good water, and for four or five miles
the shore was exceedingly pleasant. Over the point there is a fine level
country, with a soil that, to all appearance, is extremely rich; for the
ground was covered with flowers of various kinds, that perfumed the air
with their fragrance; and among them there were berries, almost
innumerable, where the blossoms had been shed: we observed that the
grass was very good, and that it was intermixed with a great number of
peas in blossom. Among this luxuriance of herbage we saw many hundreds
of birds feeding, which, from their form, and the uncommon beauty of
their plumage, we called painted geese. We walked more than twelve
miles, and found great plenty of fine fresh water, but not the bay that
we sought; for we saw no part of the shore, in all our walk from Sandy
Point, where a boat could land without the utmost hazard, the water
being very shoal, and the sea breaking very high. We fell in with a
great number of the huts or wigwams of the Indians, which appeared to
have been very lately deserted, for in some of them the fires which they
had kindled were scarcely extinguished; they were in little recesses of
the woods, and always close to fresh water. In many places we found
plenty of wild celery, and a variety of plants, which probably would be
of great benefit to seamen after a long voyage. In the evening we walked
back again, and found the ships at anchor in Sandy Point Bay, at the
distance of about half a mile from the shore. The keen air of this place
made our people so voraciously hungry that they could have eaten three
times their allowance; I was therefore very glad to find some of them
employed in hauling the seine, and others on shore with their guns;
sixty very large mullets were just taken with the seine as I came up;
and the gunners had good sport, for the place abounded with geese,
teale, snipes, and other birds, that were excellent food.

[Footnote 22: "We sent the boat to sound between Elizabeth's and St
Bartholomew's Islands, and found it a very good channel, with very deep
water. On this occasion we saw a number of Indians, that hallooed to us
from Elizabeth's Island. Both the men and the women were of the middle
size, well-made, and with smooth black hair; they appear to be of an
olive-coloured complexion, but rendered more red than they are
naturally, by rubbing a red earth mixed with grease all over their
bodies. They are very active and swift of foot," &c.]

On the 25th, Christmas day, we observed by two altitudes, and found the
latitude of Sandy Point to be 58 deg. 10' S. At eight in the morning we
weighed, and having sailed five leagues from Sandy Point, in the
direction of S. by E. 1/2 E. we anchored again in thirty-two fathom,
about a mile from the shore; the south point of the Fresh Water Bay then
bearing N.N.W. distant about four miles; and the southernmost land S.E.
by S. As we sailed along the shore, at about two miles distance, we had
no ground with sixty fathom; but at the distance of one mile we had from
twenty to thirty-two fathom. At the full and change of the moon, the
tide flows off Fresh Water Bay at twelve o'clock; it runs but little,
yet flows very much by the shore.

On the 26th, at eight o'clock in the morning, we weighed, with the wind
at E.N.E. and steered S.S.E. for Port Famine. At noon, St Anne's Point,
which is the northermost point of that port, bore S. by E. 1/2 E,
distant three leagues. Along this shore, at the distance of two or three
miles, we had very deep water; but within a mile had ground with
twenty-five or thirty fathom. From St Anne's Point a reef of rocks runs
out S.E. by E. about two miles; and at the distance of two cables'
length from this reef the water will suddenly shoal from sixty-five to
thirty-five and twenty fathom. The point itself is very steep, so that
there is no sounding till it is approached very near, and great care
must be taken in standing into Port Famine, especially if the ship is as
far southward as Sedger river, for the water will shoal at once from
thirty to twenty, fifteen, and twelve fathom; and at about two cables'
length farther in, at more than a mile from the shore, there is but nine
feet water when the tide is out. By hauling close round St Anne's Point,
soundings will soon be got; and as the water shoals very fast, it is not
safe to go farther in, when there is no more than seven fathom; the
strait here is not more than four leagues wide.

The next day at noon, having had little wind and calms, we anchored at
Port Famine, close to the shore, and found our situation very safe and
convenient; we had shelter from all winds except the S.E. which seldom
blows, and if a ship should be driven ashore in the bottom of the bay,
she could receive no damage, for it is all fine soft ground. We found
drift-wood here sufficient to have furnished a thousand sail, so that we
had no need to take the trouble of cutting green. The water of Sedger
river is excellent, but the boats cannot get in till about two hours
flood, because at low water it is very shallow for about three quarters
of a mile. I went up it about four miles in my boat, and the fallen
trees then rendered it impossible to go farther: I found it, indeed, not
only difficult but dangerous to get up thus far. The stream is very
rapid, and many stumps of trees lie hidden under it: One of these made
its way through the bottom of my boat, and in an instant she was full of
water. We got on shore as well as we could; and afterwards, with great
difficulty, hauled her up upon the side of the river: Here we contrived
to stop the hole in her bottom, so as that we made a shift to get her
down to the river's mouth, where she was soon properly repaired by the
carpenter. On each side of this river there are the finest trees I ever
saw, and I make no doubt but that they would supply the British navy
with the best masts in the world. Some of them are of a great height,
and more than eight feet in diameter, which is proportionably more than
eight yards in circumference; so that four men, joining hand in hand,
could not compass them: Among others, we found the pepper tree, or
Winter's bark, in great plenty.[23] Among these woods, notwithstanding
the coldness of the climate, there are innumerable parrots, and other birds
of the most beautiful plumage. I shot every day geese and ducks enough
to serve my own table and several others, and every body on board might
have done the same: We had, indeed, great plenty of fresh provisions of
all kinds, for we caught as much fish every day as served the companies
of both ships. As I was much on shore here, I tracked many wild beasts
in the sand, but never saw one; we also found many huts or wigwams, but
never met with an Indian. The country between this port and Cape
Forward, which is distant about four leagues, is extremely fine, the
soil appears to be very good, and there are no less than three pretty
large rivers, besides several brooks.[24]

[Footnote 23: "In this part may be found a considerable quantity of
excellent wood, either green or dry, the latter lying along the shore on
both sides the straits, which are almost covered with the trees, that,
having grown on the banks, have been blown down by the high winds. These
trees are somewhat like our birch, but are of so considerable a size,
that the trunks of some of them are two feet (surely an error, yards
must be intended) and a half in diameter, and sixty feet in length. Many
of these we cut down for our carpenters use, and found that, when
properly dried, they were very serviceable, though not fit for masts."
The bark named Winter's in the text, is so called after Captain Winter,
who discovered it in 1567. It was long held a specific for scurvy, and
is now commended in certain cases as an article in diet-drinks.
According to the work just now quoted, the sailors often used it in pies
instead of spice, and found it palateable.--E.]

[Footnote 24: The other account gives a very spirited description of the
scenery of this agreeable spot--but it is too long for insertion
here.--E.]

While we lay here, I went one day to Cape Forward, and when I set out I
intended to have gone farther; but the weather became so bad, with heavy
rain, that we were glad to stop there, and make a great fire to dry our
clothes, which were wet through. From the place where we stopped, the
Indians had been gone so lately, that the wood, which lay half burnt,
where they had made their fire, was still warm; and soon after our fire
was kindled, we perceived that another was kindled directly opposite to
it, on the Terra del Fuego shore; probably as a signal, which, if we had
been Indians, we should have understood. After we were dried and
refreshed at our fire, the rain having abated, I walked cross the Cape,
to see how the Streight ran, which I found to be about W.N.W. The hills,
as far as I could see, were of an immense height, very craggy, and
covered with snow quite from the summit to the base. I made also another
excursion along the shore to the northward, and found the country for
many miles exceedingly pleasant, the ground being, in many places,
covered with flowers, which were not inferior to those that are commonly
found in our gardens, either in beauty or fragrance; and if it were not
for the severity of the cold in winter, this country might, in my
opinion, be made, by cultivation, one of the finest in the world. I had
set up a small tent at the bottom of this bay, close to a little
rivulet, and just at the skirts of a wood, soon after the ship came to
an anchor, where three men were employed in washing: They slept on
shore; but soon after sunset were awakened out of their first sleep by
the roaring of some wild beasts, which the darkness of the night, and
the solitariness of their situation in this pathless desert, rendered
horrid beyond imagination: the tone was hollow and deep, so that the
beasts, of whatever kind, were certainly large, and the poor fellows
perceived that they drew nearer and nearer, as the sound every minute
became more loud. From this time sleep was renounced for the night, a
large fire was immediately kindled, and a constant blaze kept up: This
prevented the beasts from invading the tent; but they continued to prowl
round it at a little distance, with incessant howlings, till the day
broke, and then, to the great comfort of the affrighted sailors, they
disappeared.

At this place, not far from where the ship lay, there is a hill that has
been cleared of wood, and we supposed this to be the spot where the
Spaniards formerly had a settlement.[25] One of the men, as he was
passing over this hill, perceived that, in a particular part, the ground
returned the sound of his foot, as if it was hollow: He therefore
repassed it several times, and finding the effect still the same, he
conceived a strong notion that something was buried there; when he came
on board, he related what he had remarked to me, and I went myself to
the spot, with a small party, furnished with spades and pickaxes, and
saw the spot opened to a considerable depth, but we found nothing, nor
did there appear to be any hollow or vault as was expected. As we were
returning through the woods, we found two very large skulls, which, by
the teeth, appeared to have belonged to some beasts of prey, but of what
kind we could not guess.

[Footnote 25: See some account of this settlement in the Voyage of
Captain Wallis, Section iii.]

Having continued here till Friday the 4th of January, and completed the
wood and water of both ships, for which purpose I had entered the
streight, I determined to steer back again in search of Falkland's
Islands.

SECTION V.

_The Course back from Port Famine to Falkland's Islands, with some
Account of the Country._

We weighed anchor at four o'clock in the morning, and worked to windward
out of the harbour: The wind continued contrary at N.N.E. till about one
o'clock the next day, when it shifted to W.S.W. and blew a fresh gale.
We steered N.W. by N. four leagues, and then three leagues north,
between Elizabeth and Bartholomew Islands: We then steered from the
islands N. by E. three leagues, to the second narrow; and steered
through N.E.E. continuing the same course from the second narrow to the
first, which was a run of eight leagues. As the wind still continued to
blow fresh, we steered through the first narrow against the flood, in
the direction of N.N.E.; but about ten o'clock at night, the wind dying
away, the flood set us back again into the entrance of the first narrow,
where we were obliged to anchor, in forty fathom, within two cables'
length of the shore. The tide flows here, at the full and change of the
moon, about two o'clock, and runs full six knots an hour.

At one o'clock the next morning, we weighed, with a light northerly
breeze; and about three, we passed the first narrow a second time.
Having now seen the ship safe through, and being quite exhausted with
fatigue, as I had been upon the deck all the preceding day, and all
night, I went into my cabin to get some rest. I lay down, and soon fell
asleep; but in less than half an hour, I was awakened by the beating of
the ship upon a bank: I instantly started up, and ran upon the deck,
where I soon found that we had grounded upon a hard sand. It was happy
for us, that at this time it was stark calm; and I immediately ordered
out the boats to carry an anchor astern, where the water was deepest:
The anchor took the ground, but before we could work the capstern, in
order to heave the ship off to it, she went off, by the mere rising of
the tide. It happened fortunately to be just low water when she went
aground, and there was fifteen feet forward, and six fathom a very
little way astern. The master told me, that at the last cast of the
lead, before we were aground, he had thirteen fathom; so that the water
shoaled at once no less than sixty-three feet.