Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle Part 8

Colocatum fuit nono Kalendae Februarii Anno MDCCLx.x.xIX.

together with a list of the officers of both vessels, and enclosing a memorial of Cordova's former voyage in the Santa Maria de la Cabeza. The originals are placed in the British Museum; but before we finally left the Strait, copies were made on vellum, and deposited on the same spot.

The Beagle left Port Gallant[60] with a fair wind, which carried her to Swallow Harbour.

The next stopping place was Marian's Cove, a very snug anchorage on the north sh.o.r.e, a few miles beyond Playa Parda. Proceeding thence to the westward, with the wind 'in their teeth,' and such bad weather, that they could only see the land of either coast at intervals, and failing in an attempt to find anchorage under Cape Upright, the Beagle was kept under weigh during a squally dark night.

In that very place, Commodore Byron, with the Dolphin and Tamar, pa.s.sed the anxious night, which he thus describes:--

"Our situation was now very alarming; the storm increased every minute, the weather was extremely thick, and the rain seemed to threaten another deluge; we had a long dark night before us, we were in a narrow channel, and surrounded on {72} every side by rocks and breakers."[61] The Beagle was under similar circ.u.mstances, but the land being known to be high and bold, her danger was not considered so imminent.

Eastward of Cape Upright the water was smooth; but between it and Cape Providence a heavy breaking sea was caused by the deep swell of the Pacific. Captain Stokes found an anchorage the next night in a bay under Cape Tamar; and the following evening very nearly reached another under Cape Phillip; but the darkness of a rainy night, and strong squalls, prevented their attempting to anchor in an unknown place, and the only resource was to bear up for shelter under Cape Tamar, where the previous night had been pa.s.sed. Even this was a dangerous attempt; they could hardly discern any part of the high land, and when before the wind could not avoid the s.h.i.+p's going much too fast. While running about eight knots, a violent shock--a lift forward--heel over--and downward plunge--electrified every one; but before they could look round, she was scudding along, as before, having fairly leaped over the rock.

It was afterwards found that a great part of the gripe and false keel were knocked away. Captain Stokes's account of this day's beat will give an idea of the difficulties which the Beagle's crew encountered, in working out of the Strait.

January 31st. "The hands were turned up at daylight up anchor; but the heavy squalls that came off the high land of the harbour, rendered it too hazardous to weigh, until a temporary lull enabled us to make sail, and re-commence beating to the westward against a dead foul wind, much rain, hard squalls, and a turbulent cross sea.

"The squalls became more frequent and more violent after noon; but they gave, in daylight, sufficient warning, being preceded by dark clouds gradually expanding upwards, until their upper line attained the alt.i.tude of about fifty degrees: then came heavy rain, and perhaps hail; immediately after followed the squall in all its fury, and generally lasted fifteen or twenty minutes.

{73}

"In working to windward we frequently extended our 'boards' to the south sh.o.r.e (not without risk considering the state of the weather), with the hope of making out Tuesday Bay, or some anchorage thereabout; but the coast was covered with so thick a mist, that not a single point, mentioned by preceding navigators, could be recognised.

"About seven in the evening we were a.s.sailed by a squall, which burst upon the s.h.i.+p with fury far surpa.s.sing all that preceded it; had not sail been shortened in time, not a stick would have been left standing, or she must have capsized. As it was, the squall hove her so much over on her broadside, that the boat which was hanging at the starboard quarter was washed away. I then stood over to the north sh.o.r.e, to look for anchorage under the lee of a cape, about three leagues to the north-west of Cape Tamar. On closing it, the weather became so thick that at times we could scarcely see two s.h.i.+ps' lengths a-head.

"These circ.u.mstances were not in favour of exploring unknown bays, and to think of pa.s.sing such a night as was in prospect, under sail in the Straits, would have been a desperate risk; I was obliged therefore to yield the hard-gained advantage of this day's beat, and run for the anchorage whence we had started in the morning.

"It was nearly dark ere we reached it; and in entering, desirous to keep well up to windward, in order to gain the best anchorage, I went too close to the outer islet, and the s.h.i.+p struck violently on a rocky ledge.

However, she did not hang a moment, and was soon anch.o.r.ed in safety."

Finding so much danger and difficulty, in proceeding with the s.h.i.+p, without first knowing where to run for anchorages, Captain Stokes left her in Tamar Bay, under the charge of Lieutenant Skyring; and, accompanied by Mr. Flinn, set out in the cutter, with a week's provisions, to examine the south coast.

In a very arduous and dangerous cruize he discovered several well-sheltered anchorages, but experienced a "constant heavy gale from W.N.W., with thick weather and incessant drenching rain." {74}

Captain Stokes says, "Our discomfort in an open boat was very great, since we were all constantly wet to the skin. In trying to double the various headlands, we were repeatedly obliged (after hours of ineffectual struggle against sea and wind) to desist from useless labour, and take refuge in the nearest cove which lay to leeward."

From the Harbour of Mercy, Captain Stokes attempted to cross the Strait, on his return to the Beagle; but the sea ran too high, and obliged him to defer his daring purpose until the weather was more favourable.

During his absence, Lieutenant Skyring surveyed Tamar Bay and its vicinity.

Again the Beagle weighed, and tried hard to make some progress to the westward, but was obliged a third time to return to Tamar Bay. After another delay she just reached Sholl Bay, under Cape Phillip, and remained there one day, to make a plan of the anchorage, and take observations to fix its position.

The Beagle reached the Harbour of Mercy (Separation Harbour of Wallis and Carteret),[62] after a thirty days' pa.s.sage from Port Famine, on the 15th, having visited several anchorages on the south sh.o.r.e in her way. But tedious and hara.s.sing as her progress had been, the accounts of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and Bougainville show that they found more difficulty, and took more time, in their pa.s.sages from Port Famine to the western entrance of the Strait. Byron, in 1764, was forty-two days; Wallis, in 1766, eighty-two; Carteret, in the same year, eighty-four; and Bougainville, in 1768, forty days, in going that short distance.

Five days were pa.s.sed at this place, during which they communicated with a few natives, of whom Captain Stokes remarks; "As might be expected from the unkindly climate in which they dwell, the personal appearance of these Indians does not {75} exhibit, either in male or female, any indications of activity or strength. Their average height is five feet five inches; their habit of body is spare; the limbs are badly turned, and deficient in muscle; the hair of their head is black, straight, and coa.r.s.e; their beards, whiskers, and eyebrows, naturally exceedingly scanty, are carefully plucked out; their forehead is low; the nose rather prominent, with dilated nostrils; their eyes are dark, and of a moderate size; the mouth is large, and the under-lip thick; their teeth are small and regular, but of bad colour. They are of a dirty copper colour; their countenance is dull, and devoid of expression. For protection against the rigours of these inclement regions, their clothing is miserably suited; being only the skin of a seal, or sea-otter, thrown over the shoulders, with the hairy side outward.

"The two upper corners of this skin are tied together across the breast with a strip of sinew or skin, and a similar thong secures it round the waist; the skirts are brought forward so as to be a partial covering. Their comb is a portion of the jaw of a porpoise, and they anoint their hair with seal or whale blubber; for removing the beard and eyebrows they employ a very primitive kind of tweezers, namely, two muscle sh.e.l.ls. They daub their bodies with a red earth, like the ruddle used in England for marking sheep.

The women, and children, wear necklaces, formed of small sh.e.l.ls, neatly attached by a plaiting of the fine fibres of seal's intestines.

"The tracts they inhabit are altogether dest.i.tute of four-footed animals; they have not domesticated the geese or ducks which abound here; of tillage they are utterly ignorant; and the only vegetable productions they eat are a few wild berries and a kind of sea-weed. Their princ.i.p.al food consists of muscles, limpets, and sea-eggs, and, as often as possible, seal, sea-otter, porpoise, and whale: we often found in their deserted dwellings bones of these animals, which had undergone the action of fire.

"Former voyagers have noticed the avidity with which they swallowed the most offensive offal, such as decaying seal-skins, {76} rancid seal, and whale blubber, &c. When on board my s.h.i.+p, they ate or drank greedily whatever was offered to them, salt-beef, salt-pork, preserved meat, pudding, pea-soup, tea, coffee, wine, or brandy--nothing came amiss. One little instance, however, happened, which showed what they preferred. As they were going ash.o.r.e, a lump of the tallow used for arming the lead was given to them, and received with particular delight. It was scrupulously divided, and placed in the little baskets which they form of rushes, to be reserved for eating last, as the richest treat.

"To their dwellings have been given, in various books of voyages, the names of huts, wigwams, &c.; but, with reference to their structure, I think old Sir John Narborough's term for them will convey the best idea to an English reader; he calls them 'arbours.' They are formed of about a couple of dozen branches, pointed at the larger ends, and stuck into the ground round a circular or elliptical s.p.a.ce, about ten feet by six; the upper ends are brought together, and secured by tyers of gra.s.s, over which is thrown a thatching of gra.s.s and seal-skins, a hole being left at the side as a door, and another at the top as a vent for the smoke. A fire is kept burning within, over which the natives are constantly cowering; hence, when seen abroad, instead of appearing to be hardy savages, inured to wet and cold, you see wretched creatures s.h.i.+vering at every breeze. I never met people so sensible of cold as these Fuegian Indians.

"The nature of their domestic ties we had no opportunity of discovering; their manner towards their children is affectionate and caressing. I often witnessed the tenderness with which they tried to quiet the alarms our presence at first occasioned, and the pleasure which they showed when we bestowed upon the little ones any trifling trinkets. It appeared that they allow their children to possess property, and consult their little whims and wishes, with respect to its disposal; for being in a boat, alongside one of the canoes, bargaining for various articles, spears, arrows, baskets, &c., I took a fancy to a dog lying near one of the women, and offered a price for it; one of my seamen, supposing the bargain concluded, laid {77} hands on the dog, at which the woman set up a dismal yell; so bidding him desist, I increased my offers. She declined to part with it, but would give two others. At last, my offers became so considerable, that she called a little boy out of the thick jungle (into which he had fled at our approach), who was the owner of the dog. The goods were shown to him, and all his party urged him to sell it, but the little urchin would not consent. He offered to let me have his necklace, and what he received in exchange was put away in his own little basket.

"These people never evinced any thankfulness for our presents. Whatever was offered they 'clutched at,' doubtful of getting it, although held out to them; and when in their own hand, it was instantly stowed away, as if they feared it would be recalled.

"I sometimes tried to discover whether they preferred any particular colour, and for that purpose held out three strings of beads, black, white, and red; they clutched at all three, in their usual manner, without showing any preference.

"Their p.r.o.nunciation is exceedingly harsh and guttural; not more than two words, whose signification was at all ascertained, could be made out, 'sherroo,' a s.h.i.+p, boat, or canoe, and 'peteet,' a child. They have a wonderful apt.i.tude for imitating the sounds of strange languages: let a sentence, of even a dozen words, be distinctly p.r.o.nounced, and they will repeat it with the utmost precision.

"Their only articles of traffic, besides such implements and weapons as they use, are seal and otter skins; and I should say that the quant.i.ty of peltry to be procured from them would be insignificant towards completing the cargo of a sealing vessel."

During the next few days the Beagle was employed in the most exposed, the least known, and the most dangerous part of the Strait. Fortunately, she was favoured by weather, and effected her purpose without injury or loss; but I never reflect upon this piece of service without an inward tribute of admiration to the daring, skill, and seamans.h.i.+p of Captain Stokes, Lieutenant Skyring, and Mr. Flinn. {78}

In his journal Captain Stokes says:

"Incessant rain and thick clouds prevented my completing, until this day (19th), the observations necessary for making an island, just outside the Harbour of Mercy, the southern end of my base, for the trigonometrical connection of the coasts and islands near the western entrance of this weather-beaten Strait.

"On the 20th, I weighed and beat to windward, intending to search for anchorage on the north sh.o.r.e, where I might land and fix the northern end of our base line. In the evening we anch.o.r.ed in an archipelago of islands, the real danger of whose vicinity was much increased to the eye by rocks, scattered in every direction, and high breakers, occasioned doubtless by reefs under water. We observed that most of the larger islands have small banks of sand at their eastern sides, on which anchorage may be found; but for ordinary purposes of navigation, this cl.u.s.ter of islands[63] need only be pointed out to be avoided. The number and contiguity of the rocks, below as well as above water, render it a most hazardous place for any square-rigged vessel: nothing but the particular duty on which I was ordered would have induced me to venture among them. Fore-and-aft vessels might work with far less risk; and as the rocks are frequented by vast numbers of fur seal, a season or two might be profitably pa.s.sed here by a sealing vessel so rigged.

"This morning (21st) I landed on one of the larger islands, with Lieutenant Skyring, and having ascended an eminence (Observation Mount) with the necessary instruments, fixed its position, and made it the northern end of our base.

"It was a beautiful, and clear day; the Isles of Direction (or Evangelists), as well as every point of importance on the adjacent coast, were seen distinctly during several hours.

"My next object was to fix the position of Cape Victory, and ascertain whether anchorage could be found in its neighbourhood. Accordingly, we weighed early next morning (22d,) and after extricating ourselves from this labyrinth (not without much difficulty and danger), we beat to the westward. Violent squalls, a heavy sea, and thick weather, which came on about {79} noon, obliged me to choose the least evil, and run for the Harbour of Mercy.

"On the 23d, we went out again, and beat towards the Isles of Direction, off which we pa.s.sed a night under sail.

"The morning of the 24th was very fine, and the wind moderate. Leaving the Beagle to sound about the Isles of Direction, I set out in my boat, with two days' provisions, towards Cape Victory. As we rowed along these rocky sh.o.r.es, threading the mazes of the labyrinth of islets which fringe them, we saw vast numbers of black whales, and the rocks were quite covered with fur seal and brant geese.

"After pulling, in earnest, for six hours, we landed upon Cape Victory, the north-western limit of the Strait of Magalhaens, and there, with a s.e.xtant, artificial horizon, and chronometer, ascertained the position of this remarkable promontory. From an eminence, eight hundred feet above the sea, we had a commanding view of the adjacent coasts, as well as of the vast Pacific, which enabled us to rectify former material errors. Late in the evening we were fortunate enough to get safely on board again, which, considering the usual weather here and the heavy sea, was unexpected success. This night was pa.s.sed under sail in the Pacific, and next morning we commenced our return to Port Famine.

"When within four or five miles of Cape Pillar, and to the westward of it, a current was found to set southward, at about two knots an hour. As we neared the Cape the wind fell, and the Beagle was set rapidly towards those dangerous rocks, called the Apostles. Fortunately, a commanding breeze sprung up, and we extricated ourselves from the difficulty. While pa.s.sing Cape Pillar, I landed in a cove near it, and determined its position. By sunset we had arrived near the Harbour of Mercy; and being becalmed, towed the s.h.i.+p in, with her boats, until an anchor was dropped at the proper place.

"On the 26th, we went to Tuesday Bay, and on the 27th crossed the Strait, and anch.o.r.ed under Cape Parker. I have rarely witnessed such a high, cross, and irregular sea as we this day pa.s.sed through, near the strange ma.s.s of rock, called by {80} Narborough, 'Westminster Hall.' The coast about our unsafe anchorage was as barren and dismal-looking as any part of this country, which, as the old navigator above-mentioned said, is 'so desolate land to behold.'

"Next day (March 1st) we ran down to Cape Upright, and there remained until the 3d, collecting the required data for our survey.

"While standing towards the bay called Playa Parda (on the 3d), a boat under sail was seen making towards us from the southern coast. I fired several guns, to show our position, before we became shut in by the land, and soon after anchoring a whale-boat came alongside, with the second mate and five men belonging to the sealing-vessel Prince of Saxe Cobourg.

"Anxious not to lose a moment in hastening to the relief of our s.h.i.+pwrecked countrymen, I ran down next day to Port Gallant, and thence proceeded with two ten-oared boats (on the 5th) through the Barbara Channel, and the following evening reached Fury Harbour."

Having already given a short account of the Saxe Cobourg's loss, and the rescue of her crew by Captain Stokes, I will not repeat the story by extracting more from his journal.

Mr. Graves returned from his cruize in the Hope on the 17th, after suffering much from stormy weather and incessant rain; but having made a survey of the openings in the land to the west of Magdalen Channel as far as the Sugar Loaf Point, at the west head of Lyell Sound, which he found to be deep inlets, affording no anchorages of value to navigation.