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

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47

[Footnote 31: "We here saw a great number of islands, and many Indians
dispersed in several quarters, amongst whom we found a family which
struck our attention. It was composed of a decrepid old man, his wife,
two sons, and a daughter. The latter appeared to have tolerable
features, and an English face, which they seemed to be desirous of
letting us know; they making a long harangue, not a syllable of which we
understood, though we plainly, perceived it was in relation to this
woman, whose age did not exceed thirty, by their pointing first at her,
and then at themselves. Various were the conjectures we formed in regard
to this circumstance, though we generally agreed, that their signs
plainly shewed that they offered her to us, as being of the same
country." It is scarcely uncharitable to imagine that this young lady's
mother had once been unfaithful to her lord and master, preferring the
addresses of some favoured European. A little of our northern pride
would have concealed this family disgrace. But in those distant regions,
where such occurrences must have been rare, perhaps vanity would gratify
itself by transmuting it into an honour. After all, however, it is very
difficult to divine who was or could be the "gay deceiver." A fanciful
reader, indeed, who was acquainted with Byron's narrative of the loss of
the Wager, might be tempted to conjecture that the good mother, being on
an expedition to the northward of the straits, was one of the wives
whom, as he says, the crew, at that time subject to no controul,
endeavoured to seduce, a conduct which gave the Indians great offence.
There are undoubtedly some strong marks of identity, betwixt the Indians
described in that narrative and the inhabitants found in the straits.
They resembled in stature, in complexion, in hair, in dress, viz. the
skin of some unknown beast; they used the same diet, living principally
on fish, (muscles are particularly mentioned in both accounts;) they
were both very dexterous in the management of the javelin; and the
former, it is clear from Byron's words, came from the south. Their
canoes also, it may be added, were of very similar materials and
structure. Of the jealousy of these Indians, Byron relates some striking
evidences, from what he himself had the unhappiness to experience. Who
knows what some waggish spectator of the young lady might surmise about
her English features, if he had ever heard of the gallant commodore's
adventure in the wigwam, &c., so feelingly introduced and dilated in his
interesting narrative!--E.]

At seven o'clock the next morning, we weighed and towed out of the bay,
and at eight saw the Tamar very far astern, steering after us. At noon
we had little wind at E.N.E. but at five o'clock it shifted to W.N.W.
and blew fresh. At six we were abreast of Cape Monday, and at six the
next morning, Cape Upright bore E. by S. distant three leagues. From
Cape Monday to Cape Upright, which are both on the south shore, and
distant from each other about five leagues, the course is W. by N. by
the compass: The shore on each side is rocky, with broken ground. At
about half an hour after seven, we had a very hard squall, and the
weather being then exceedingly thick, we suddenly perceived a reef of
rocks close under our lee-bow, upon which the sea broke very high: We
had but just time to tack clear of them, and if the ship had missed
stays, every soul on board must inevitably have perished. These rocks
lie at a great distance from the south shore, and are about three
leagues to the north of Cape Upright. At nine the weather cleared a
little, and we saw the entrance of Long Reach, upon which we bore away,
keeping nearest the south shore, in hopes of finding an anchoring-place.
At ten we had strong gales and thick weather, with hard rain, and at
noon we were again abreast of Cape Monday, but could find no
anchoring-place, which, however, we continued to seek, still steering
along the south shore, and were soon after joined by the Tamar, who had
been six or seven leagues to the eastward of us all night. At six in the
evening we anchored in a deep bay, about three leagues to the eastward
of Cape Monday: We let go the anchor in five-and-twenty fathom, near an
island in the bottom of the bay; but before we could bring up the ship,
we were driven off, and the anchor took the ground in about fifty
fathom. The extreme points of the bay bore from N.W. to N.E. by E. and
the island W. 1/2 S. We veered to a whole cable, and the anchor was
about a cable's length from the nearest shore. In the night we had fresh
gales westerly, with sudden squalls and hard rain; but in the morning
the weather became more moderate, though it was still thick, and the
rain continued. As a great swell set into this place, and broke very
high upon the rocks, near which we lay, I got up the anchor, and warped
the ship to a bank where the Tamar was riding: We let go our anchor in
fourteen fathom, and moored with the stream anchor to the eastward, in
forty-five fathom. In the bottom of this bay there is a bason, at the
entrance of which there is but three fathom and a half at low water, but
within there is ten fathom, and room enough for six or seven sail to lie
where no wind can hurt them.

We continued here till Friday the 15th, and during all that time had one
continued storm, with impenetrable fogs, and incessant rain. On the
12th, I sent out the boat, with an officer to look for harbours on the
southern shore: The boat was absent till the 14th, and then returned,
with an account that there were five bays between the ship's station and
Cape Upright, where we might anchor in great safety. The officer told
me, that near Cape Upright he had fallen in with a few Indians, who had
given him a dog, and that; one of the women had offered him a child
which was sucking at her breast. It is scarcely necessary to say that he
refused it, but the offer seems to degrade these poor forlorn savages
more than any thing in their appearance or manner of life: It must be a
strange depravity of nature that leaves them destitute of affection for
their offspring, or a most deplorable situation that impresses
necessities upon them by which it is surmounted. Some hills, which,
when, we first came to this place, had no snow upon them, were now
covered, and the winter of this dreary and inhospitable region seemed to
have set in at once: The poor seamen not only suffered much by the cold,
but had scarcely ever a dry thread about them: I therefore distributed
among the crews of both the ships, not excepting the officers, two bales
of a thick woollen stuff, called Fearnought, which is provided by the
government, so that every body on board had now a warm jacket, which at
this time was found both comfortable and salutary.

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 15th, we weighed and made sail,
and at three o'clock in the afternoon, we were once more abreast of Cape
Monday, and at five we anchored in a bay on the east side of it. The
pitch of the cape bore N.W. distant half a mile, and the extreme points
of the bay from E. to N. by W. We lay at about half a cable's length
from the nearest shore, which was a low island between the ship and the
cape.

At six o'clock the next morning we weighed, and found that the palm was
gone from the small bower anchor. The wind was at W.N.W. with hard rain:
At eight o'clock we found a strong current setting us to the eastward,
and at noon, Cape Monday bore W.N.W. distant two miles. The Tamar being
to windward of us, fetched into the bay, and anchored again. We
continued to lose ground upon every tack, and therefore, at two o'clock,
anchored upon the southern shore in sixteen fathom, about five miles to
the eastward of Cape Monday. At three, however, I weighed again, for the
boat having sounded round the ship, found the ground rocky. The wind was
N.W. with hard rain, and we continued working all the rest of the day,
and all night, every man on board being upon deck the whole time, and
every one wet to the skin; for the rain, or rather sheets of water, that
came down, did not cease a moment.

In the morning, we had again the mortification to find that,
notwithstanding all our labour, we had lost ground upon every tack, in
consequence of the current, which continued to set with great force to
the eastward. At eight o'clock we bore away, and at nine anchored in the
same bay from which we sailed on the 15th.

The wind continued W. and W.N.W. without any tide to the westward, all
the 18th and 19th, and the weather was exceedingly bad, with hard
squalls and heavy rain. In the mean time I had sent an officer with a
boat to sound a bay on the north shore, but he found no anchorage in it.
On the 20th, at six o'clock in the morning, a hard squall coming on, the
ship drove, and brought the anchor off the bank into forty fathom, but
by heaving up the bower, and carrying out the kedge anchor, we got the
ship on the bank again. At eight the day following, though the wind was
from W.N.W. to S.W. we weighed, and once more stood out of the bay; the
current still set very strongly to the eastward, but at noon we found
that we had gained about a mile and a half in a contrary direction. The
wind now became variable, from S.W. to N.W. and at five in the
afternoon, the ship had gained about four miles to the westward; but not
being able to find an anchoring-place, and the wind dying away, we drove
again very fast to the eastward with the current. At six however, we
anchored in forty fathom, with very good ground, in a bay about two
miles to the westward of that from which we sailed in the morning. A
swell rolled in here all night, so that our situation was by no means
desirable, and therefore, although the wind was still at W.S.W. we
weighed and made sail about eight o'clock the next day: We had likewise
incessant rain, so that the people were continually wet, which was a
great aggravation of their fatigue; yet they were still cheerful, and,
what was yet less to be expected, still healthy. This day, to our great
joy, we found the current setting to the westward, and we gained ground
very fast. At six in the evening, we anchored in the bay on the east
side of Cape Monday, where the Tamar lay in eighteen fathom, the pitch
of the cape bearing W. by N. distant half a mile. We found this place
very safe, the ground being excellent, and there being room enough for
two or three ships of the line to moor.

SECTION VII

_The Passage from Cape Monday, in the Streight of Magellan, into the
South Seas; with some general Remarks on the Navigation of that
Strait._

AT eight the next morning we weighed, and soon after we made sail opened
the South Sea, from which such a swell rolled in upon us as I have
seldom seen. At four o'clock in the afternoon, we anchored in a very
good bay, with a deep sound at the bottom of it, by which it may be
known, about a league to the eastward of Cape Upright, in fourteen
fathom. The extreme point of the bay bore from N.W. to N.E. by E. and
Cape Upright W.N.W. about a cable's length to the eastward of a low
island which makes the bay.

At three o'clock in the morning of the 24th, I sent a boat with an
officer from each ship, to look for anchoring-places to the westward;
but at four in the afternoon, they returned without having been able to
get round Cape Upright.

The next morning I sent the boats again to the westward, and about six
in the evening they returned, having been about four leagues, and found
two anchoring-places, but neither of them were very good. We made sail,
however, about eight in the forenoon of the next day, and at three, Cape
Upright bore E.S.E. distant about three leagues, a remarkable cape on
the north shore at the same time bearing N.E. distant four or five
miles. This cape, which is very lofty and steep, lies N.N.W. by compass
from Cape Upright, at the distance of about three leagues. The south
shore in this place had a very bad appearance, many sunken rocks lying
about it to a considerable distance, upon which the sea breaks very
high. At four the weather became very thick, and in less than half an
hour we saw the south shore at the distance of about a mile, but could
get no anchoring-place; we therefore tacked, and stood over to the north
shore. At half an hour after six, I made the Tamar signal to come under
our stern, and ordered her to keep a-head of us all night, and to show
lights, and fire a gun every time she changed her tack. At seven it
cleared up for a moment just to show us the north shore, bearing W. by
N. We tacked immediately, and at eight the wind shifted from N.N.W. to
W.N.W. and blew with great violence. Our situation was now very
alarming; the storm increased every minute, the weather was extremely
thick, the rain seemed to threaten another deluge, we had a long dark
night before us, we were in a narrow channel, and surrounded on every
side by rocks and breakers. We attempted to clue up the mizen top-sail,
but before this service could be done it was blown all to rags: We then
brought-to, with the main and fore-topsail close-reefed, and upon the
cap, keeping the ship's head to the southwest; but there being a
prodigious sea, it broke over us so often that the whole deck was almost
continually under water. At nine, by an accidental breaking of the fog,
we saw the high cape on the north shore that has been just mentioned,
bearing east, at about a mile distance; but we had entirely lost sight
of the Tamar. At half an hour after three in the morning, we suddenly
perceived ourselves close to a high land on the south shore, upon which
we wore, and brought to the northward. The gale still continued, if
possible, with increasing violence, and the rain poured down in
torrents, so that we were in a manner immersed in water, and expected
every moment to be among the breakers. The long-wished-for day at length
broke, but the weather was still so thick that no land was to be seen,
though we knew it could not be far distant, till after six, when we saw
the south shore at about the distance of two miles; and soon after, to
our great satisfaction, we saw the Tamar: At this time Cape Monday bore
S.E. distant about four miles, and the violence of the gale not abating,
we bore away. About seven, both ships came to an anchor in the bay which
lies to the eastward of Cape Monday, notwithstanding the sea that rolled
in; for we were glad to get anchorage any where[32] We had now been
twice within four leagues of Tuesday's Bay, at the western entrance of
the streight, and had been twice driven back ten or twelve leagues by
such storms as we had now just experienced. When the season is so far
advanced as it was when we attempted the passage of this streight, it is
a most difficult and dangerous undertaking, as it blows a hurricane
incessantly night and day, and the rain is as violent and constant as
the wind, with such fogs as often render it impossible to discover any
object at the distance of twice the ship's length. This day our best
bower cable being quite rubbed to pieces, we cut it into junk, and bent
a new one, which we rounded with old rigging, eight fathom from the
anchor.

[Footnote 32: "The straits are here four or five leagues over, and the
mountains seem to be ten times as high as the mast-head of our ships;
but not much covered with snow; or encompassed with trees."]

In the afternoon of the day following, the Tamar parted a new best
bower cable, it being cut by the rock, and drove over to the east side
of the bay, where she was brought up at a very little distance from some
rocks, against which she must otherwise have been dashed to pieces.

At seven o'clock in the morning of the 29th, we weighed, and found our
small bower-cable very much rubbed by the foul ground, so that we were
obliged to cut no less than six-and-twenty fathom of it off, and bend it
again. In about half an hour, the Tamar, being very near the rocks, and
not being able to purchase her anchor, made signals of distress. I was
therefore obliged to stand into the bay again, and having anchored, I
sent hawsers on board the Tamar, and heaved her up while she purchased
her anchor, after which we heaved her to windward, and at noon, being
got into a proper birth, she anchored again. We continued in our station
all night, and the next morning a gale came on at W.N.W. which was still
more violent than any that had preceded it; the water was torn up all
around us, and carried much higher than the mast heads, a dreadful sea
at the same time rolling in; so that, knowing the ground to be foul, we
were in constant apprehension of parting our cables, in which case we
must have been almost instantly dashed to atoms against the rocks that
were just to leeward of us, and upon which the sea broke with
inconceivable fury, and a noise not less loud than thunder. We lowered
all the main and fore-yards, let go the small bower, veered a cable and
a half on the best bower, and having bent the sheet-cable, stood by the
anchor all the rest of the day, and till midnight, the sea often
breaking half way up our main shrouds. About one in the morning, the
weather became somewhat more moderate, but continued to be very dark,
rainy, and tempestuous, till midnight, when the wind shifted to the S.W.
and soon afterwards it became comparatively calm and clear.

The next morning, which was the first of April, we had a stark calm,
with now and then some light airs from the eastward; but the weather was
again, thick with hard rain, and we found a current setting strongly to
the eastward. At four o'clock we got up the lower yards, unbent the
sheet-cable, and weighed the small bower; at eight we weighed the best
bower, and found the cable very much rubbed in several places, which we
considered as a great misfortune, it being a fine new cable, which
never had been wet before. At eleven, we hove short on the
stream-anchor; but soon after, it being calm, and a thick fog coming on
with hard rain, we veered away the stream-cable, and with a warp to the
Tamar, heaved the ship upon the bank again, and let go the small bower
in two-and-twenty fathom.

At six in the evening, we had strong gales at W.N.W. with violent
squalls and much rain, and continued in our station till the morning of
the 3d, when I sent the Tamar's boat, with an officer from each ship, to
the westward, in search of anchoring-places on the south shore; and at
the same time I sent my own cutter with an officer to seek
anchoring-places on the north shore.

The cutter returned the next morning, at six o'clock, having been about
five leagues to the westward upon the north shore, and found two
anchoring-places. The officer reported, that having been on shore, he
had fallen in with some Indians, who had with them a canoe of a
construction very different from any that they had seen in the strait
before: This vessel consisted of planks sewed together, but all the
others were nothing more than the bark of large trees, tied together at
the ends, and kept open by short pieces of wood, which were thrust in
transversely between the two sides, like the boats which children make
of a bean-shell. The people, he said, were the nearest to brutes in
their manner and appearance of any he had seen: They were, like some
which we had met with before, quite naked, notwithstanding the severity
of the weather, except part of a seal-skin which was thrown over their
shoulders; and they eat their food, which was such as no other animal
but a hog would touch, without any dressing: They had with them a large
piece of whale blubber, which stunk intolerably, and one of them tore it
to pieces with his teeth, and gave it about to the rest, who devoured it
with the voracity of a wild beast. They did not, however, look upon what
they saw in the possession of our people with indifference; for while
one of them was asleep, they cut off the hinder part of his jacket with
a sharp flint which they use as a knife.

About eight o'clock, we made sail, and found little or no current. At
noon, Cape Upright bore W.S.W. distant three leagues; and at six in the
evening, we anchored in the bay, on the southern shore, which lies about
a league to the eastward of the cape, and had fifteen fathom water.

While we were lying here, and taking in wood and water, seven or eight
Indians in a canoe came round the western point of the bay, and having
landed opposite to the ship, made a fire. We invited them to come on
board by all the signs we could devise, but without success; I therefore
took the jolly-boat, and went on shore to them. I introduced myself by
making them presents of several trifles, with which they seemed to be
much gratified, and we became very intimate in a few minutes: After we
had spent some time together, I sent away my people, in the boat, for
some bread, and remained on shore with them alone. When the boat
returned with the bread, I divided it among them, and I remarked with
equal pleasure and surprise, that if a bit of the biscuit happened to
fall, not one of them offered to touch it till I gave my consent. In the
mean time some of my people were cutting a little grass for two or three
sheep which I had still left on board, and at length the Indians
perceiving what they were doing, ran immediately, and tearing up all the
weeds they could get, carried them to the boat, which in a very short
time was filled almost up to her gunwale. I was much gratified by this
token of their good-will, and I could perceive that they were pleased
with the pleasure that I expressed upon the occasion: They had indeed
taken such a fancy to us, that when I returned on board the boat, they
all got into their canoe, and followed me. When we came near the ship,
however, they stopped, and gazed at her as if held in surprise by a
mixture of astonishment and terror; but at last, though not without some
difficulty, I prevailed upon four or five of them to venture on board.
As soon as they entered the ship I made them several, presents, and in a
very little time they appeared to be perfectly at ease. As I was very
desirous to entertain them, one of the midshipmen played upon the
violin, and some of my people danced; at this they were so much
delighted, and so impatient to show their gratitude, that one of them
went over the ship's side into the canoe, and fetched up a seal-skin bag
of red paint, and immediately smeared the fiddler's face all over with
it: He was very desirous to pay me the same compliment, which, however,
I thought fit to decline; but he made many very vigorous efforts to get
the better of my modesty, and it was not without some difficulty that I
defended myself from receiving the honour he designed me in my own
despight. After having diverted and entertained them several hours, I
intimated to them that it would be proper for them to go on shore; but
their attachment was such, that it was by no means an easy matter to get
them out of the ship. Their canoe was not of bark, but of planks sewed
together.

On Sunday the 7th, at six o'clock in the morning, we weighed, with a
moderate breeze at E.N.E. and fine weather. At seven, we were abreast of
Cape Upright; and at noon, it bore E.S.E. distant four leagues: Soon
after we tried the current, and found it set to the eastward at the rate
of a knot and a half an hour. At three it fell calm, and the current
driving us to the eastward very fast, we dropped an anchor, which before
it took the ground was in one hundred and twenty fathom.

This day, and not before, the Tamar's boat returned from the westward:
She had been within two or three leagues of Cape Pillar, and had found
several very good anchoring-places on the south shore.

At one o'clock the next morning, having a fresh gale at west, we
weighed, notwithstanding the weather was thick, and made sail; at eleven
it blew very hard, with violent rain and a great sea, and as we
perceived that we rather lost than gained ground, we stood in for a bay
on the south shore, about four leagues to the westward of Cape Upright,
and anchored in twenty fathom: The ground was not good, but in other
respects this was one of the best harbours that we had met with in the
streight, for it was impossible that any wind should hurt us. There
being less wind in the afternoon, and it inclining a little towards the
south, we unmoored at two, and at four, the wind having then come round
to the S.S.E. and being a moderate breeze, we weighed and steered to the
westward: We made about two leagues and a half, but night then coming
on, we anchored, not without great difficulty, in a very good bay on the
south shore in twenty fathom. As very violent gusts came from the land,
we were very near being driven off before we could let go an anchor, and
if we had not at last succeeded we must have passed a dreadful night in
the strait; for it blew a hurricane from the time we came to an anchor
till the morning, with violent rain, which was sometimes intermingled
with snow.

At six o'clock, the wind being still fresh and squally at S.S.E. we
weighed and steered W. by N. along the south shore. At eleven, we were
abreast of Cape Pillar, which by compass is about fourteen leagues
W.1/2 N. from Cape Upright. Cape Pillar may be known by a large gap upon
the top, and when it bears W.S.W. an island appears off it which has an
appearance somewhat like a hay-stack, and about which lie several rocks.
The strait to the eastward of the cape is between seven and eight
leagues over; the land on each side is of a moderate height, but it is
lowest on the north shore, the south shore being much the boldest,
though both are craggy and broken. Westminster Island is nearer to the
north than the south shore; and, by the compass, lies N.E. from Cape
Pillar. The land on the north shore, near the west end of the strait,
makes in many islands and rocks, upon which the sea breaks in a
tremendous manner. The land about Cape Victory is distant from Cape
Pillar about ten or eleven leagues, in the direction of N.W. by N. From
the cape westward, the coast trends S.S.W.1/2 W. to Cape Deseada, a low
point, off which lie innumerable rocks and breakers. About four leagues
W.S.W. from Cape Deseada, lie some dangerous rocks, called by Sir John
Narborough the Judges, upon which a mountainous surf always breaks with
inconceivable fury. Four small islands, called the Islands of Direction,
are distant from Cape Pillar about eight leagues, in the direction of
N.W. by W. When we were off this cape it was stark calm; but I never saw
such a swell as rolled in here, nor such a surge as broke on each shore.
I expected every moment that the wind would spring up from its usual
quarter, and that the best which could happen to us would be to be
driven many leagues up the streight again. Contrary, however, to all
expectation, a fine steady gale sprung up at S. E. to which I spread all
the sail that it was possible for the ship to bear, and ran off from
this frightful and desolate coast at the rate of nine miles an hour; so
that by eight o'clock in the evening we had left it twenty leagues
behind us. And now, to make the ship as stiff as possible, I knocked
down our after bulk-head, and got two of the boats under the half-deck;
I also placed my twelve-oared cutter under the boom; so that we had
nothing upon the skids but the jolly-boat; and the alteration which this
made in the vessel is inconceivable: For the weight of the boats upon,
the skids made her crank, and in a great sea they were also in danger
of being lost.