Volume 11 / Part 2 — CHAPTER XIV. VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY CAPTAIN GEORGE ANSON, IN THE YEARS 1740-1744.1 (continued 3)

I proceed, in the next place, to consider of the proper measures to be pursued for doubling Cape Horn: And here, I think I am sufficiently authorized, by our own fatal experience, and by a careful comparison and examination of the journals of former navigators, to give the following advice, which ought never, in prudence, to be departed from: Which is, That all ships bound to the South Seas, instead of passing through the Straits of Le Maire, should constantly pass by the eastward of Staten-Land, and should be invariably bent on running as far as the latitude of 61° or 62° S. before they endeavour to stand to the westwards; and ought then to make sure of a sufficient westing in or about that latitude, before commencing a northern course. But, since directions diametrically opposite to these have been formerly given by other writers, it is incumbent on me to produce my reasons for each part of this maxim.

First then, as to the propriety of passing to the eastward of Staten-Land. Those who have attended to the risk we ran in passing the Straits of Le Maire, the danger we were in of being driven upon Staten-Land by the current, when, though we happily escaped being driven on shore, we were yet carried to the eastward of that island: those, I say, who reflect on this and the like accidents which have happened to other ships, will surely not esteem it prudent to pass through these straits and run the risk of shipwreck, and find themselves, after all, no farther to the westward, the only reason hitherto given for this practice, than they might have been, in the same time, by a more secure navigation in an open sea. And next, as to the directions I have given for running into the latitude of 61° or 62° S. before any endeavour is made to stand to the westward. The reasons for this precept are, that, in all probability, the violence of the current setting from the westward will be thereby avoided, and the weather will prove less tempestuous and uncertain. This last circumstance we experienced most remarkably; for after we had unexpectedly fallen in with the land at Cape Noir, we stood away southward to get clear of it; and were no sooner advanced into the lat. of 60° S. or upwards, than we met with much better weather and smoother water than in any other part of this whole passage. The air indeed was very sharp and cold, and we had strong gales, but they were steady and uniform, and we had at the same time sunshine and a clear sky: whereas in the lower latitudes, the wind every now and then intermitted, as it were, to recover new strength, and then returned suddenly in the most violent gusts, threatening at every blast to blow away our masts, which must have proved our inevitable destruction.

Also, that the currents in this high latitude would be of much less efficacy than nearer the land, seems to be evinced by these considerations: That all currents run with greater violence near the shore than out at sea, and that at great distances from the land they are scarcely perceptible. The reason of this seems sufficiently obvious, if we consider that constant currents, in all probability, are produced by constant winds; the wind, though with a slow and imperceptible motion, driving a large body of water continually before it, which, being accumulated on any coast that it meets with in its course, must escape along the shore by the endeavours of the surface to reduce itself to the level of the rest of the ocean. It is likewise reasonable to suppose, that those violent gusts of wind which we experienced near the shore, so very different from what we found in the lat. of 60° S. and upwards, may be owing to a similar cause; for a westerly wind almost perpetually prevails in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, and this current of air being interrupted by the enormously high range of the Andes, and by the mountains on Terra del Fuego, which together bar up the whole country as far south as Cape Horn, a part only of the wind can force its way over the top of these prodigious precipices, while the rest must naturally follow the direction of the coast, and must range down the land to the southward, and sweep with an impetuous and irregular blast round Cape Horn, and the southermost part of Terra del Fuego. Without placing too much reliance on these speculations, we may assume, I believe, as incontestable facts, that both the rapidity of the currents, and the violence of the western gales, are less sensible in lat. 61° or 62° S. than nearer the coasts of Terra del Fuego.

Though satisfied, both from our own experience and the relations of other navigators, of the importance of the precept here insisted on, of proceeding to lat. 61° or 62° S. before any endeavours are made to stand to the westwards, yet I would also advise all ships hereafter not to trust so far to this management as to neglect another most essential maxim: Which is, to make this passage in the height of the antarctic summer, or, in other words, in the months of December and January, which correspond exactly to the months of June and July in our northern or arctic hemisphere: and the more distant the time of passing may be from this season, so much the more disastrous the passage may reasonably be expected to prove. Indeed, if the mere violence of the western winds be considered, the time of our passage, which was about the antarctic autumnal equinox, was perhaps the most favourable period of the whole year. But then it must be considered that there are, independent of the winds, many other inconveniences to be apprehended in the depth of winter, which are almost insuperable. For, at that season, the severity of the cold, and the shortness of the days, would render it impracticable to run so far to the southward as is here recommended. The same reasons would also greatly augment the danger and alarm of sailing, at that season, in the neighbourhood of an unknown shore, dreadful in its appearance, even in the midst of summer, and would render a winter navigation on this coast, beyond all others, most dismaying and terrible. As I would, therefore, advise all ships to make their passage, if possible, in December and January, so I would warn them never to attempt doubling Cape Horn, from the eastward, after the month of March, which is equivalent to our August. As to the remaining consideration, in regard to the most proper place for cruizers to refit at, on their first arrival in the South Seas, there is scarcely any choice, the island of Juan Fernandez being the only place that can be prudently recommended for that purpose. For, although there are many ports on the western side of Patagonia, between the Straits of Magellan, one of which I shall particularly notice in the sequel, in which ships may ride in great safety, and may also recruit their wood and water, and procure some few refreshments, yet that coast is in itself so extremely dangerous, owing to its numerous rocks and breakers, and to the violence of the western winds, which blow upon it continually, that it is by no means advisable to fall in with that coast, at least till the roads, channels, and anchorages in each part of it have been accurately surveyed, and both the perils and shelters with which it abounds are more distinctly known.

Having thus given the best directions in my power, for the success of our cruizers that may be hereafter bound to the South Seas, it might be expected that I should now resume the narrative of our voyage. Yet as, both in the preceding and subsequent parts of this work, I have thought it my duty not only to recite all such facts, and to inculcate such maxims, as had even the least appearance of proving beneficial to future navigators, and also to recommend such measures to the public as seemed adapted to promote the same laudable purpose, I cannot desist from the present subject without beseeching those persons to whom the conduct of our naval affairs is confided, to endeavour to remove the many perplexities and embarrassments with which the navigation to the South Sea is at present encumbered. An effort of this kind could not fail of proving highly honourable to themselves, and extremely beneficial to their country; for it is sufficiently evident, that whatever improvements navigation shall receive, either by the invention of methods by which its practice may be rendered less hazardous, or by the more accurate delineation of the coasts, roads, and harbours already known, or by the discovery of new countries and nations, or of new species and sources of commerce, the advantages thence arising must ultimately redound to the emolument of Great Britain. Since, as our fleets are at present superior to those of the whole world united, it must be a matchless degree of supineness or meanness of spirit, if we permit any of the advantages deriveable from new discoveries, or from a more extended navigation, to be ravished from us.

Either of these places, being islands at a considerable distance from the continent, may be supposed, from their latitude, to be situated in a sufficiently temperate climate. They are both, it is true, too little known at present to be recommended as the most eligible places of refreshment for ships bound to the South Seas: But, if the admiralty should think proper to order them to be surveyed, which might be done at a very small expence, by a vessel fitted out on purpose; and if, on examination, either one or both should appear proper for serving the end in view, it is scarcely possible to conceive how exceedingly important so convenient a station might prove, so far to the southward, and so near Cape Horn. The Duke and Duchess of Bristol, under Woods Rogers, were only thirty-five days from losing sight of Falkland's Islands to their arrival at Juan Fernandez, in the South Sea; and, as the return back is much facilitated by the western winds, a voyage might doubtless be made from Falkland's Islands to Juan Fernandez and back again in little more than two months. Even in time of peace, this station might be of great consequence to the nation; and in time of war, would render us masters of those seas.

As all discoveries of this kind, though extremely honourable to those who direct and promote them, may yet be carried on at an inconsiderable expence, since small vessels are much the most proper to be employed in this service, it were greatly to be wished that the whole coasts of Patagonia, Terra del Fuego, and Staten-Land, were carefully surveyed, and the numerous channels, roads, harbours, and islands, in which they abound, accurately examined, described, and represented. This might open to us vast facilities for passing into the South Seas, such as hitherto we have no knowledge of, and would render the whole of that southern navigation greatly more secure than it is at present: Particularly as exact draughts of the western coast of Patagonia, from the Straits of Magellan to the Spanish settlements, might furnish us with better and more convenient ports for refreshment, and better situated, both for the purposes of war and commerce, than Juan Fernandez, as being above a fornight's sail nearer to Falkland's Islands.

The discovery of this coast was formerly thought of so much importance, by reason of its neighbourhood to the Araucos and other Indians of Chili, who are generally at war, or at least on ill terms, with the Spaniards, that, in the reign of Charles II. Sir John Narborough was purposely fitted out to survey the Straits of Magellan, the neighbouring coast of Patagonia, and the Spanish ports on that frontier, with directions, if possible, to procure some intercourse with the Chilese Indians, and to establish a commerce and lasting correspondence with them. His majesty's views, on this occasion, were not solely directed to the advantage he might hope to receive from an alliance with these savages, in restraining and intimidating the king of Spain, but he even conceived, independent of these considerations, that an immediate traffic with these Indians might prove highly advantageous to the nation; for it is well known that Chili, at its first discovery by the Spaniards, abounded in vast quantities of gold, much beyond what it has ever produced since it came into their possession. Hence it has been generally believed, that the richest mines are carefully concealed by the Indians, as well knowing that their discovery would excite in the Spaniards a greater thirst for conquest and tyranny, and would render their own independence more precarious. But, in regard to their commerce with the English, could that be established, these reasons would no longer influence them; since it would be in our power to supply them with arms and ammunition of all kinds, together with many other conveniences, which their intercourse with the Spaniards has taught them to relish. They would then, in all probability, open their mines, and gladly embrace a traffic of such mutual advantage to both nations: For their gold, instead of proving an incitement to enslave them, would then procure them weapons with which to assert their liberty, to chastise their tyranny, and to secure themselves for ever from falling under the Spanish yoke; while, with our assistance, and under our protection, they might become a considerable people, and might secure to us that wealth, which was formerly most mischievously lavished by the house of Austria, and lately by the house of Bourbon, in pursuit of universal monarchy.

It is true, that Sir John Narborough did not succeed in opening this commerce, which promised, in appearance, so many advantages to the nation: But his disappointment was merely accidental; and his transactions on that coast, besides the many advantages he furnished to geography and navigation, are rather an encouragement for future trials of this kind, than any objection against them. His principal misfortune was in losing a small bark that accompanied him, and having some of his people trepanned at Baldivia. It even appeared, by the fears and precautions of the Spaniards, that they were fully convinced of the practicability of the scheme he was sent to execute, and were extremely alarmed with apprehensions for its consequences. It is said that Charles II. was so far prepossessed with the belief of the advantages that might redound to the public from this expedition, and was so eager to be informed of the event, on receiving intelligence of Sir John Narborough passing through the Downs on his return, that he had not patience to wait till his arrival at court, but went himself in his barge to meet him at Gravesend.

The two most famous charts hitherto published, [i.e. in 1745,] of the southern parts of South America, are those of Dr Halley, in his General Chart of the Magnetic Variation, and of Frezier, in his Voyage to the South Seas. Besides these, there is a chart of the Straits of Magellan and some parts of the adjacent coast, by Sir John Narborough, which is doubtless infinitely more exact in that part than Frezier's, and even in some parts superior to Halley's, particularly in regard to the longitudes of different places in these straits. We were in some measure capable of correcting, by our own observations, the coast from Cape Blanco to Terra del Fuego, and thence to the Straits of Le Maire, as we ranged along that coast, generally in sight of land. The position of the land to the northward of the Straits of Magellan, on the western side of Patagonia, is doubtless laid down very imperfectly in our charts; and yet I believe it to be much nearer the truth than any hitherto published; as it was drawn from the information of some of the crew of the Wager, which was shipwrecked on that coast; and as it pretty nearly agrees with what I have seen in some Spanish manuscripts. The channel, called Whale Sound, dividing Terra del Fuego, towards the western extremity of the Straits of Magellan, was represented by Frezier; but Sir Francis Drake, who first discovered Cape Horn, and the south-west parts of Terra del Fuego, observed that the whole coast was indented by a great number of inlets, all of which he conceived to communicate with the Straits of Magellan: And I do not doubt, when this country shall be thoroughly examined, that this conjecture will be verified, and that Terra del Fuego will be found to consist of several islands.

SECTION X.

Course from Cape Noir to the Island of Juan Fernandez.

After the mortifying disappointment of falling in with the coast of Terra del Fuego, at Cape Noir, when we reckoned ourselves ten degrees to the westward of it, as formerly mentioned to have happened on the 14th of April, we stood away to the S.W. till the 22d of that month, when we were in upwards of 60° S. and, by our reckoning, 6° westwards of Cape Noir. In this run, we had a series of as favourable weather as could well be expected in that part of the world, even in a better season of the year; so that this interval, setting aside our disquietudes on various accounts, was by far the most eligible of any we had enjoyed since passing the Straits of Le Maire. This moderate weather continued, with little variation, till the evening of the 24th, when the wind began to blow fresh, and soon increased to a prodigious storm. About midnight, the weather being very thick, we lost sight of the other ships of the squadron, which had hitherto kept us company, notwithstanding the violence of the preceding storms. Neither was this our sole misfortune, for next morning, while endeavouring to hand the top-sails, the clew-lines and bunt-lines broke, and the sheets being half flown, every seam in the top-sails was soon split from top to bottom. The main top-sail shook so violently in the wind, that it carried away the top lanthorn, and even endangered the head of the mast. At length, however, some of the boldest of our men ventured upon the yard, and cut the sail away close to the reefs, with the utmost hazard of their lives. At the same time, the fore top-sail beat about the yard with so much fury, that it was soon blown to pieces. The main-sail also blew loose, which obliged us to lower down the yard to secure the sail; and the fore-yard also being lowered, we lay-to under a mizen. In this storm, besides the loss of our top-sails, we had much of our rigging broken, and lost a main studding-sail boom out of the chains.

The weather became more moderate on the 25th at noon, which enabled us to sway up our yards, and to repair our shattered rigging in the best manner we could; but still we had no sight of the rest of our squadron, neither did any of them rejoin us till after our arrival at Juan Fernandez; nor, as we afterwards learnt, did any two of them continue in company together. This total, and almost instantaneous separation was the more wonderful, as we had hitherto kept together for seven weeks, through all the reiterated tempests of this turbulent climate. It must be owned, indeed, that we had hence room to expect we might make our passage in a shorter time than if we had continued together, because we could now make the best of our way, without being retarded by the misfortunes of the other ships; but then we had the melancholy reflection, that we were thereby deprived of the assistance of others, and our safety depended solely on our single ship; so that, if a plank started, or any other important accident occurred, we must all irrecoverably perish. Or, should we happen to be driven on shore, we had the uncomfortable prospect of ending our days on some desolate coast, without any reasonable hope of ever getting off again; whereas, with another ship in company, all these calamities are much less formidable, as in every kind of danger there would always be some probability that one ship at least might escape, and be capable of preserving or relieving the crew of the other.

During the remainder of April, we had generally hard gales, though every day, since the 22d, edging to the northward. On the last day of the month, however, we flattered ourselves with the expectation of soon terminating our sufferings, as we then found ourselves in lat. 52° 13' S. which, being to the northward of the Straits of Magellan, we were now assured that we had completed our passage, and were arrived on the confines of the South Sea: And, as this ocean is denominated the Pacific, from the equability of the seasons said to prevail there, and the facility and security with which navigation is there carried on, we doubted not that we should be speedily cheered with the moderate gales, the smooth water, and the temperate air, for which that portion of the globe is so renowned. Under the influence of these pleasing circumstances, we hoped to experience some compensation for the complicated sufferings, which had so constantly beset us for the last eight weeks. Yet here we were again miserably disappointed; for, in the succeeding month of May, our sufferings rose even to a much higher pitch than they had ever yet done, whether we consider the violence of the storms, the shattering of our sails and rigging, or the diminution and weakening of our crew by deaths and sickness, and the even threatening prospect of our utter destruction. All this will be sufficiently evident, from the following circumstantial recital of our diversified misfortunes.

Soon after we had passed the Straits of Le Maire, the scurvy began to make its appearance among us, and our long continuance at sea, the fatigue we underwent, and the various disappointments we met with, had occasioned its spreading to such a degree, that there were but few on board, by the latter end of April, that were not afflicted with it in some degree; and in that month no less than forty-three died of it in the Centurion. Although we thought the distemper had then risen to an extraordinary height, and were willing to hope that its malignity might abate as we advanced to the northward, we yet found, on the contrary, that we lost near double that number in the month of May; and, as we did not get to land till the middle of June, the mortality went on increasing, and so prodigiously did the disease extend, that, after the loss of above 200 men, we could not muster at the last above six foremast-men in a watch that were capable of duty.

This disease, so frequent in long voyages, and so particularly destructive to us, is surely the most singular and unaccountable of any that affects the human body. Its symptoms are innumerable and inconstant, and its progress and effects singularly irregular, for scarcely have any two persons complaints exactly resembling each other; and where there have been, some conformity in the symptoms, the order of their appearance has been totally different. Though it frequently puts on the form of many other diseases, and is not therefore to be described by any exclusive and infallible criterions, yet there are some symptoms which are more general than the rest, and of more frequent and constant occurrence, and which therefore deserve a more particular enumeration. These common appearances are large discoloured spots dispersed over the whole surface of the body, swelled legs, putrid gums, and, above all, an extraordinary lassitude of the whole body, especially after any exercise, however inconsiderable and this lassitude at last degenerates into a proneness to swoon, and even to die, on the least exertion of strength, or even on the least motion. This disease is usually attended, also, by a strange dejection of spirits, with shiverings, tremblings, and a disposition to be seized with the most dreadful terrors on the slightest accident. Indeed it was most remarkable, in all our reiterated experience of this malady, that whatever discouraged our people, or at any time damped their hopes, never failed to add new vigour to the distemper, for such usually killed those who were in the last stages of the disease, and confined those to their hammocks who were before capable of some kind of duty, so that it seemed as if alacrity of mind and sanguine hopes were no small preservatives from its fatal malignity.

But it is not easy to complete the long roll of the various concomitants of this disease; for it often produced putrid fevers, pleurisies, jaundice, and violent rheumatic pains, and sometimes occasioned obstinate costiveness, which was generally attended with a difficulty of breathing, and this was esteemed the most deadly of all the scorbutic symptoms. At other times the whole body, but more especially the legs, were subject to ulcers of the worst kind, attended by rotten bones, and such a luxuriance of fungous flesh as yielded to no remedy. The most extraordinary circumstance, and which would scarcely be credible upon any single evidence, was, that the scars of wounds that had been healed for many years, were forced open again by this virulent distemper. There was a remarkable instance of this in the case of one of the invalid soldiers on board the Centurion, who had been wounded above fifty years before, at the battle of the Boyne; and though he was cured soon after, and had continued well for a great many years, yet, on being attacked by the scurvy, his wounds broke out afresh in the progress of the disease, and appeared as if they had never been healed. What is even still more extraordinary, the callus of a broken bone, which had been completely formed for a long time, was dissolved in the course of this disease, and the fracture seemed as if it had never been consolidated. The effects, indeed, of this disease, were in almost every instance wonderful, for many of our people, though confined to their hammocks, appeared to have no inconsiderable share of health, as they eat and drank heartily, were even cheerful, talking with much seeming vigour with a loud strong voice; and yet, on being in the least moved, though only from one part of the ship to another, and that too in their hammocks, they would instantly expire. Others, who have confided in their seeming strength, and have resolved to get out of their hammocks, have died before they could well reach the decks; neither was it uncommon for such as were able to walk the deck, and even to perform some kind of duty, to drop down dead in an instant, on any attempt to act with their utmost effort; many of our people having perished in this manner in the course of our voyage.

We struggled under this terrible disease during the greatest part of the time of our beating round Cape Horn; and though it did not then rage with its utmost violence, yet we buried no less than forty-three men in the month of April, as formerly observed. We were still, however, in hopes of seeing a period to this cruel malady, and to all the other evils which had so constantly pursued us, when we should have secured our passage round the Cape: but we found, to our heavy misfortune, that the (so-called) Pacific Ocean was to us less hospitable even than the turbulent neighbourhood of Terra del Fuego and Cape Horn. On the 8th of May, being arrived of the island of Socoro, on the western coast of Patagonia, [in lat. 44° 50' S. long. 73° 45' W.] the first rendezvous appointed for the squadron, and where we hoped to have met with some of our consorts, we cruized for them in that station several days. We were here not only disappointed in our expectations of meeting our friends, which induced the gloomy apprehensions of their having all perished, but were also perpetually alarmed with the fear of being driven on this coast, which appeared too craggy and irregular to give us the least prospect, in such a case, that any of us could possibly escape immediate destruction. The land, indeed, had a most tremendous aspect. The most distant part, far within the country, being the mountains of the Andes, or Cordelieras, was extremely high, and covered with snow; while the coast seemed quite rocky and barren, and the edge of the water skirted with precipices. In some places, indeed, we observed several deep bays running; into the land; but their entrances were generally blocked up by numbers of small islands; and though it was not improbable but there might be convenient shelter in some of the bays, and proper channels leading to them, yet, as we were utterly ignorant of the coast, had we been driven ashore by the westerly winds, which blew almost incessantly we could not well have avoided the loss both of the ship and of our lives.

This continued peril which lasted above a fortnight, was greatly aggraved by the difficulties we found in working the ship; as the scurvy, by this time, had destroyed so great a number of our hands, and had in some degree infected almost the whole crew. Neither did we, as we hoped, find the winds less violent as we advanced to the northward; for we had often prodigious squalls of wind, which split our sails, greatly damaged our rigging, and endangered our masts. Indeed, during much the greatest part of the time we were upon this coast, the wind blew so hard that, in any other situation where we had sufficient sea-room, we should certainly have lain-to; but, in the present exigency, we were necessitated to carry both our courses and top-sails, in order to keep clear of this lee-shore. In one of these squalls, which was attended by several violent claps of thunder, a sudden flash of fire darted along our decks, which dividing, exploded with a report like that of several pistols, and wounded many of our men and officers, marking them in different parts of their bodies. This flame was attended by a strong, sulphurous stench, and was doubtless of the same nature with the larger and more violent flashes of lightning which then filled the air.

It were endless to recite minutely the various disasters, fatigues, and terrors, which we encountered on this coast, all of which went on increasing till the 22d of May; at which time the fury of all the storms we had hitherto encountered seemed to have combined for our destruction. In this hurricane almost all our sails were split, and a great part of our standing rigging broken. About eight in the evening, an overgrown mountainous wave took us upon our star-board quarter, and gave us so prodigious a shock that several of our shrouds broke with the jerk, to the great danger of our masts giving way, and our ballast and stores were so strangely shifted, that the ship heeled afterwards two streaks to port. This was a most tremendous blow, and we were thrown into the utmost consternation, having the dismal apprehension of instantly foundering. Though the wind abated in a few hours, yet, having no sails left in a condition to bend to the yards, the ship laboured exceedingly in a hollow sea, rolling gunwale too, for want of sail to keep her steady, so that we every moment expected that our masts, now very slenderly supported, would have come by the board. We exerted ourselves, however, the best we could, to stirrup our shrouds, to reeve new lanyards, and to mend our sails: But, while these necessary operations were going on, we ran great risk of being driven ashore on the island of Chiloe, which was not far from us. In the midst of our peril, the wind happily shifted to the southward, and we steered off the land with the main-sail only; at which time the master and I undertook the management of the helm, while every one else, capable of acting, were busied in securing the masts, and bending the sails as fast as they could be repaired. This was the last effort of that stormy climate; for, in a day or two after, we got clear of the land, and found the weather more moderate than we had yet experienced since passing the Straits of Le Maire.

Having now cruized in vain, for the other ships of the squadron, during more than a fortnight, it was resolved to take advantage of the present favourable weather, and the offing we had made from this terrible coast, and to make the best of our way for the island of Juan Fernandez. It is true that our next rendezvous was appointed off Baldivia; yet, as we had seen none of our companions at this first rendezvous, it was not to be supposed that any of them would be found at the second, and indeed we had the greatest reason to suspect that all but ourselves had perished. Besides, we were now reduced to so low a condition, that, instead of pretending to attack the settlements of the enemy, our utmost hopes could only suggest the possibility of saving the ship, and some part of the remaining crew, by a speedy arrival at Juan Fernandez; as that was the only place, in this part of the world, where there was any probability of recovering our sick or refitting our ship, and consequently our getting thither was the only chance we had left to avoid perishing at sea.

Our deplorable situation allowing no room for deliberation, we stood for the island of Juan Fernandez; and, to save time, which was now extremely precious, as our men were dying by four, five, and six of a day, and likewise to avoid being again engaged on a lee shore, we resolved to endeavour to hit that island upon a meridian. On the 28th of May, being nearly in the parallel on which it is laid down, we had great expectations of seeing that island; but, not finding it in the position laid down in our charts, we began to fear that we had got too far to the westward; and therefore, though the commodore was strongly persuaded that he saw it in the morning of the 28th, yet his officers believing it to have been only a cloud, to which opinion the haziness of the weather gave some countenance, it was resolved, on consultation, to stand to the eastward in the parallel of the island; as, by this course, we should certainly fall in with the island, if we were already to the westward of it, or should at least make the main land of Chili, whence we could take a new departure, so as not to miss it a second time in running to the westward.

Accordingly, on the 30th May, we had sight of the continent of Chili, distant about twelve or thirteen leagues, the land appearing very low and uneven, and quite white; what we saw being doubtless a part of the Cordilleras, which are always covered with snow. Though by this view of the land we ascertained our position, yet it gave us great uneasiness to find that we had so needlessly altered our course, when we had been, in all probability, just upon the point of making the island: For the mortality among us was now increased to a most frightful degree, and those who remained were utterly dispirited by this new disappointment, and the prospect of their longer continuance at sea. Our water, too, began to grow scarce, and a general dejection prevailed among us, which added much to the virulence of the disease, and destroyed numbers of our best men. To all these calamities, there was added this vexatious circumstance, after getting sight of the main land, that we were so much delayed by calms and contrary winds, while tacking westwards in quest of the island, that it took us nine days to regain the westing, which we ran down in two when standing to the eastward.

In this desponding condition, and under these disheartening circumstances, we stood to the westward, with a crazy ship, a great scarcity of fresh water, and a crew so universally diseased, that there were not above ten foremast men in a watch capable of doing duty, and even some of these lame and unable to go aloft. At last, at day-break on the 9th of June, we discovered the long-wished-for island of Juan Fernandez. Owing to our suspecting ourselves to be to the westward of this island on the 28th of May, and in consequence of the delay occasioned by our standing in for the main and returning, we lost between seventy and eighty of our men, whom we had doubtless saved, if we had made the island on that day, which we could not have failed to do, if we had kept on our course only for a few hours longer.

SECTION XI.

Arrival of the Centurion at Juan Fernandez, with a Description of that Island.

As mentioned in the preceding section, we descried the island of Juan Fernandez at day-break on the 9th June, bearing N. by E. 1/2 E. distant eleven or twelve leagues. Though on this first view it appeared very mountainous, ragged, and irregular, yet it was land, and the land we sought for, and was therefore a most agreeable sight: because here only we could hope to put a period to those terrible calamities with which we had so long struggled, which had already swept away above half of our crew, and which, had we continued only a few days longer at sea, must inevitably have completed our destruction. For we were now reduced to so helpless a condition, that, out of two hundred and odd men who remained alive, taking all our watches together, we could not muster hands now to work the ship on any emergency, even including the officers, the servants, and the boys.

The wind being northerly when we first made the island, we kept plying to windward all that day, and the ensuing night, in order to get in with the land; and, while wearing ship in the middle watch, we had a melancholy instance of the almost incredible debility of our people; for the lieutenant could muster no more than two quarter-masters and six foremast men capable of working; so that, without the assistance of the officers, servants, and boys, it might have been impossible for us to have reached the island after we got sight of it; and even with their assistance, we were two hours in trimming the sails; to so wretched a condition were we reduced, in a sixty-gun ship, which had passed the Straits of Le Maire only three months before with between four and five hundred men, most of them then in health and vigour.

In the afternoon of the 10th, we got under the lee of the island, and kept ranging along its coast at the distance of about two miles, in order to look out for the proper anchorage, which was described to be in a bay on its north side. Being now so near the shore, we could perceive that the broken craggy precipices, which had appeared so very unpromising from a distance, were far from barren, being in most places covered by woods; and that there were every where the finest vallies interspersed between them, cloathed with a most beautiful verdure, and watered by numerous streams and cascades, every valley of any extent being provided with its own rill; and we afterwards found that the water was constantly clear, and not inferior to any we had ever met with. The aspect of a country thus beautifully diversified would at any time have been extremely delightful; but, in our distressed situation, languishing as we were for the land and its vegetable productions, an indication constantly attending every stage of the sea-scurvy, it is scarcely credible with what eagerness and transport we viewed the shore, and with how much impatience we longed for the greens and other refreshments which were in sight. We were particularly anxious for the water, as we had been confined to a very sparing allowance for a considerable time, and had then only five tons remaining on board. Those only who have endured a long series of thirst, and who can readily recall the desire and agitation which even the ideas alone of springs and brooks have at that time raised in their minds, can judge of the emotion with which we viewed a large cascade of the purest water, which poured into the sea at a short distance from the ship, from a rock near a hundred feet high. Even those of the sick who were not in the very last stage of the distemper, though they had been long confined to their hammocks, exerted their small remains of strength, and crawled up to the deck, to feast their eyes with this reviving prospect.

We thus coasted along the island, fully occupied in contemplating this enchanting landscape, which still improved as we proceeded. But at last the night closed upon us, before we could determine upon the proper bay in which to anchor. It was resolved, therefore, to keep in soundings all night, having then from sixty-four to seventy fathoms, and to send our boat next morning to discover the road. The current shifted, however, in the night, and set us so near the land that we were obliged to let go our best bower in fifty-six fathoms, not half a mile from shore. At four next morning, the cutter was dispatched, under our third-lieutenant, to find out the bay of which we were in search. The boat returned at noon, full of seals and grass; for though the island abounded with better vegetables, the boat's crew, during their short stay, had not met any other, and thought even this would be acceptable as a dainty, and indeed it was all speedily and eagerly devoured. The seals, too, were considered as fresh provision, but were not much admired, though they afterwards came into more repute; but we had taken a prodigious quantity of excellent fish during the absence of the boat, which rendered the seals less valuable at this time.

The cutter had discovered the bay in which we intended to anchor, which was to the westward of our present station; and next morning, the weather proving favourable, we endeavoured to weigh, in order to proceed thither, mustering all the strength we could, obliging even the sick, who could hardly stand on their legs, to assist; yet the capstan was so weakly manned, that it was near four hours before we could heave the cable right up and down: after which, with our utmost efforts, though with many surges and some additional purchases to increase our strength, we found it utterly impossible to start the anchor out of the ground. At noon, however, as a fresh gale blew towards the bay, we were induced to set the sails, which fortunately tripped the anchor. We then steered along shore, till we came abreast of the point forming the eastern part of the bay: But on opening the bay, the wind, which had hitherto favoured us, chanced to shift, and blew from the bay in squalls; yet, by means of the head-way we had got, we luffed close in, till the anchor, which still hung at our bow, brought us up in fifty-six fathoms.

Soon after we had thus got to anchor in the mouth of the bay, we discovered a sail making toward us, which we had no doubt was one of our squadron, and which, on a nearer approach, we found to be the Tryal sloop; whereupon, we immediately dispatched some of our hands to her assistance, by whose means she was brought to anchor between us and the land. We soon learnt that she had by no means been exempted from the same calamities by which we had been so severely afflicted; for Captain Saunders, her commander, waiting on the commodore, informed him, that he had buried thirty-four men out of his small complement, and those that remained alive were so universally afflicted with the scurvy, that only himself, his lieutenant, and three of the men were able to stand by the sails.

It was on the 12th about noon that the Tryal came to anchor within us, when we carried our hawsers on board her, in order to warp our ship nearer the shore; but the wind coming off the land in violent gusts, prevented our mooring in the intended birth. Indeed our principal attention was now devoted to a business of rather more importance, as we were now anxiously employed in sending on shore materials to erect tents for the reception of the sick, who died rapidly on board. Doubtless the distemper was considerably augmented by the stench and filthiness in which they lay; for the number of the sick was so great, and so few of them could be spared from the necessary duty of the sails to look after them, that it was impossible to avoid a great relaxation in regard to cleanliness, so that the ship was extremely loathsome between decks. Notwithstanding our desire to free the sick from their present hateful situation, and their own extreme eagerness to get on shore, we had not hands enough to prepare the tents for their reception sooner than the 16th; but on that and the two following days we got them all on shore, to the number of an hundred and sixty-seven persons, besides twelve or fourteen who died in the boats on being exposed to the fresh air. The greatest part of our sick were so infirm, that we had to carry them out of the ship in their hammocks, and to convey them afterwards in the same manner from the water-side to the tents, over a stony beach. This was a work of considerable fatigue to the few who remained healthy; and therefore our commodore, according to his accustomed humanity, not only assisted in this himself, but obliged all his officers to give their helping-hand.

The extreme weakness of our sick may be collected, in some measure, from the numbers that died after they got on shore. It has generally been found that the land, and the refreshments it affords, very soon produce recovery in most stages of the scurvy, and we flattered ourselves that those who had not perished on their first exposure to the open air, but had lived to be placed in the tents, would have been speedily restored to health and vigour. Yet to our great mortification, it was nearly twenty days after they landed, before the mortality entirely ceased, and for the first ten or twelve days we rarely buried less than six each day, and many of those who survived recovered by very slow and insensible degrees. Those, indeed, who had sufficient strength, at their first getting on shore, to creep out of the tents, and to crawl about, were soon relieved, and speedily recovered their health and strength: But, in the rest, the disease seemed to have attained a degree of inveteracy altogether without example.

Before proceeding to any farther detail of our proceeding, I think it necessary to give a distinct account of this island of Juan Fernandez, including its situation, productions, and conveniences. We were well enabled to be minutely instructed in these particulars, during our three months stay at this island; and its advantages will merit a circumstantial description, as it is the only commodious place in these seas, where British cruizers can refresh and recover their men, after passing round Caps Horn, and where they may remain for some time without alarming the Spanish coast. Commodore Anson, indeed, was particularly industrious, in directing the roads and coasts of this island to be surveyed, and other observations of all kinds to be made; knowing, from his own experience, of how great benefit these materials might prove hereafter, to any British cruizers in these seas. For the uncertainty we were in of its position, and our standing in for the main on the 28th May, as formerly related, cost us the lives of between seventy and eighty of our men; from which fatal loss we might have been saved, had we possessed such an account of its situation as we could have fully depended upon.

I have already observed that a northerly wind, to which alone this bay is directly exposed, very seldom blew while we were there; and, as it was then winter, such may be supposed less frequent in other seasons. In those few instances when the wind was in that quarter, it did not blow with any great force, which might be owing to the high lands, south of the bay, giving a check to its force; for we had reason to believe that it blew with considerable force a few leagues out at sea, since it sometimes drove a prodigious sea before it into the bay, during which we rode forecastle in. Though the northerly winds are never to be apprehended in this bay, yet the southerly winds, which generally prevail here, frequently blow off the land in violent gusts and squalls, which seldom lasted, however, longer than two or three minutes. This seems to be owing to the high hills, in the neighbourhood of the bay, obstructing the southern gale; as the wind, collected by this means, at last forces its passage through the narrow vallies; which, like so many funnels, both facilitate its escape, and increase its violence. These frequent and sudden guests make it difficult for a ship to work in with the wind offshore, or to keep a clear hawse, when anchored.

The northern part of this island is composed of high craggy hills, many of them inaccessible, though generally covered with trees. The soil of this part is loose and shallow, so that very large trees in the hills frequently perish for want of root, and are then easily overturned. This circumstance occasioned the death of one of our men, who, being on the hills in search of goats, caught hold of a tree upon a declivity to assist him in his ascent, and this giving way, he rolled down the hill; and though, in his fall, he fastened on another tree of considerable bulk, this also gave way, and he fell among the rocks, where he was dashed to pieces. Mr Brett, also, having rested his back against a tree, near as large about as himself, which grew on a slope, it gave way with him, and he fell to a considerable distance, though without receiving any injury. Our prisoners, whom, as will appear in the sequel, we afterwards brought to this island, remarked that the appearance of the hills in some parts resembled that of the mountains in Chili where gold is found; so that it is not impossible that mines might be discovered here. In some places we observed several hills of a peculiar red earth, exceeding vermillion in colour, which perhaps, on examination, might prove useful for many purposes. The southern, or rather S.W. part of the island, is widely different from the rest; being destitute of trees, dry, stony, and very flat and low, compared, with the hills on the northern part. This part of the island is never frequented by ships, being surrounded by a steep shore, and having little or no fresh water; besides which, it is exposed to the southerly winds, which generally blow here the whole year round, and with great violence in the antarctic winter.

The trees, of which the woods in the northern part of the island are composed, are mostly aromatic, and of many different sorts. There are none of them of a size to yield any considerable timber, except those we called myrtle-trees, which are the largest on the island, and supplied us with all the timber we used; yet even these would not work to a greater length than forty feet. The top of the myrtle is circular, and as uniform and regular as if clipped round by art. It bears an excrescence like moss on its bark, having the taste and smell of garlic, and was used instead of it by our people. We found here the pimento, and the cabbage-tree, but in no great quantity. Besides these, there were a great number of plants of various kinds, which we were not botanists enough to describe or attend to. We found here, however, almost all the vegetables that are usually esteemed peculiarly adapted to the cure of those scorbutic disorders which are contracted by salt diet and long voyages, as we had great quantities of water-cresses and purslain, with excellent wild sorrel, and a vast profusion of turnips and Sicilian radishes, which two last, having a strong resemblance to each other, were confounded by our people under the general name of turnips. We usually preferred the tops of the turnips to the roots, which we generally found stringy, though some of them were free from that exception, and remarkably good. These vegetables, with the fish and flesh we got here, to be more particularly described hereafter, were not only exceedingly grateful to our palates after the long course of salt diet to which we had been confined, but were likewise of the most salutary consequence in recovering and envigorating our sick, and of no mean service to us who were well, by destroying the lurking seeds of the scurvy, from which none of us, perhaps, were totally exempted, and in refreshing and restoring us to our wonted strength and activity. To the vegetables already mentioned, of which we made perpetual use, I must add that we found many acres of ground covered with oats and clover. There were some few cabbage-trees, as before observed, but these grew generally on precipices and in dangerous situations, and as it was necessary to cut down a large tree to procure a single cabbage, we were rarely able to indulge in this dainty.

The excellence of the climate, and the looseness of the soil, renders this island extremely proper for all kinds of cultivation: for, if the ground be any where accidentally turned up, it becomes immediately overgrown with turnips and Sicilian radishes. Our commodore, therefore, having with him garden-seeds of all kinds, and stones of different kinds of fruits, sowed here lettuces, carrots, and other garden-plants, and set in the woods great numbers of plumb, apricot, and peach-stones, for the better accommodation of our countrymen who might hereafter touch at this island. These last have since thriven most remarkably, as has been since learnt by Mr Anson. For some Spanish gentlemen having been taken on their passage from Lima to Spain, and brought to England, having procured leave to wait upon him, to thank him for his generosity and humanity to his prisoners, some of whom were their relations, and foiling into discourse about his transactions in the South Seas, asked if he had not planted a great number of fruit-stones on the island of Juan Fernandez, as their late navigators had discovered there a great many peach and apricot trees, which, being fruits not observed there before, they supposed to have been produced from kernels set by him.

This may suffice in general as to the soil and vegetable productions of Juan Fernandez; but the face of the country, at least of its northern part, is so extremely singular as to require a particular consideration. I have already noticed the wild and inhospitable appearance of it to us at first sight, and the gradual improvement of its uncouth landscape as we drew nearer, till we were at last captivated by the numerous beauties we discovered on landing. During our residence, we found the interior to fall no ways short of the sanguine prepossessions we at first entertained. For the woods, which covered most of even the steepest hills, were free from all bushes and underwood, affording an easy passage through every part of them; and the irregularities of the hills and precipices, in the northern part of the island, traced out, by their various combinations, a great number of romantic vallies, most of which were pervaded by streams of the purest water, which tumbled in beautiful cascades from rock to rock, as the bottoms of the vallies happened to be broken into sudden descents by the course of the neighbouring hills. Some particular spots occurred in these vallies where the shade and fragrance of the contiguous woods, the loftiness of the overhanging rocks, and the transparency and frequent cascades of the streams, presented scenes of such elegance and dignity, as would with difficulty be rivalled in any other part of the globe. Here, perhaps, the simple productions of unassisted nature may be said to excel all the fictitious descriptions of the most fertile imagination.

The piece of ground which the commodore chose in which to pitch his tent, was a small lawn on a gentle ascent, about half a mile from the sea. In front of the tent was a large avenue, opening through the woods to the shore, and sloping with a gentle descent to the water, having a prospect of the bay and the ships at anchor. This lawn was screened behind by a wood of tall myrtle trees, sweeping round in a crescent form, like a theatre, the slope on which the wood grew rising more rapidly than the open lawn, yet not so much but that the hills and precipices of the interior towered considerably above the tops of the trees, and added greatly to the beauty and grandeur of the view. There were also two streams of water, pure as the finest crystal, which ran to the right and left of the tent within the distance of an hundred yards, and which, shaded by trees skirting either side of the lawn, completed the symmetry of the whole.

It only now remains that we should mention the animals and provisions which we met with at this island. Former writers have related that this island abounded with vast numbers of goats, and their accounts are not to be questioned, as this place was the usual resort of the buccaneers and privateers who used formerly to frequent these seas. There are two instances, one of a musquito Indian, and the other of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotsman, who were left here by their respective ships, and lived alone upon the island for some years, and were consequently no strangers to its productions. Selkirk, who was here the last, after a stay of between four and five years, was taken off by the Duke and Duchess privateers, of Bristol, as may be seen at large in the journal of their voyage. His manner of life, during his solitude, was very remarkable in most particulars; but he relates one circumstance, which was so strongly verified by our own experience, that it seems worthy of being mentioned. He tells us, as he often caught more goats than he had occasion for, that he sometimes marked their ears, and let them go. This was about thirty-two years before our arrival, yet it happened that the first goat killed by our people after they landed, had its ears slit; whence we concluded that it had doubtless been formerly caught by Selkirk. This was indeed an animal of a most venerable aspect, dignified with a most majestic beard, and bearing many other marks of great age. During our residence, we met with others marked in the same manner, all the males being distinguished by exuberant beards, with every other characteristic of extreme age.

The great number of goats, which former writers describe as having been found on this island, were very much diminished before our arrival. For the Spaniards, aware of the advantages derived by the buccaneers and pirates from the goats-flesh they here procured, have endeavoured to extirpate the breed, on purpose to deprive their enemies of this resource. For this purpose, they put on shore great numbers of large dogs, which have greatly increased, and have destroyed all the goats in the accessible pans of the country; so that there were only, when we were there, a few among the crags and precipices, where the dogs cannot follow them. These remaining goats are divided into separate flocks, of twenty or thirty each, which inhabit distinct fastnesses, and never mingle with each other, so that we found it exceedingly difficult to kill them; yet we were so desirous of their flesh, which we all agreed resembled venison, that we came, I believe, to the knowledge of all their haunts and flocks; and, by comparing their numbers, it was conceived that they scarcely exceeded two hundred on the whole island. I once witnessed a remarkable contest between a flock of goats and a number of dogs. Going in our boat into the East bay, we perceived some dogs running very eagerly upon the foot, and willing to see what game they were in pursuit of, we rested some time on our oars to observe them, when at last they took to a hill, on the ridge of which we saw a flock of goats drawn up for their reception. There was a very narrow path leading to the ridge, skirted on each side by precipices; and here the master he-goat of the flock posted himself fronting the enemy, the rest of the goats being all behind him, on more open ground. As the ridge was inaccessible by any other path, except where this champion stood, though the dogs ran up the hill with great alacrity, yet, when they came within twenty yards, not daring to encounter him, as he would infallibly have driven them down the precipice, they gave over the chase, and lay down at that distance, panting at a great rate.

These dogs, which are masters of all the accessible parts of the island, are of various kinds, some of them very large, and have multiplied to a prodigious degree. They sometimes came down to our habitations under night, and stole our provisions; and once or twice they set upon single persons, but, assistance being at hand, they were driven away, without doing any mischief. As it is now rare for any goats to fall in their way, we conceived that they lived principally on young seals; and some of our people, having the curiosity to kill dogs sometimes, and dress them, seemed to agree that they had a fishy taste.

Goats-flesh being scarce, as we were rarely able to kill above one in a day, and our people growing tired of fish, which abounded at this place, they at last condescended to eat seals, which they came by degrees to relish, calling it lamb. As the seal, of which numbers haunt this island, has been often mentioned by former writers, it seems unnecessary to say any thing particular respecting that animal in this place. There is, however, another amphibious animal to be met with here, called the sea-lion, having some resemblance to a seal, but much larger, which I conceive may merit a particular description. This too we eat, under the denomination of beef. When arrived at full size, the sea-lion is between twelve and twenty feet in length, and from eight to fifteen feet in circumference. They are extremely fat, so that, below the skin, which is an inch thick, there is at least a foot deep of fat, before coming to the lean or bones, and we experienced more than once, that the fat of some of the largest afforded us a butt of oil. They are also very full of blood; for, if deeply wounded in a dozen places, there will instantly gush out as many fountains of blood, spouting to a considerable distance. To try what quantity of blood one of them might contain, we shot one first, and then cut its throat, measuring the blood which flowed, and found that we got at least two hogsheads, besides a considerable quantity remaining in the vessels of the animal.

Their skins are covered with short hair of a light dun colour; but their tails and fins, which serve them for feet on shore, are almost black. These fore-feet, or fins, are divided at the ends like fingers, the web which joins them not reaching to the extremities, and each of these fingers is furnished with a nail. They have a distant resemblance to an overgrown seal; though in some particulars there are manifest differences between these two animals, besides the vast disproportion in size. The males especially are remarkably dissimilar, having a large snout, or trunk, hanging down five or six inches beyond the extremity of the upper jaw, which renders the countenances of the male and female easily distinguishable from each other. One of the largest of these males, who was master of a large flock of females, and drove off all the other males, got from our sailors the name of the bashaw, from that circumstance. These animals divide their time between the sea and the land, continuing at sea all summer, and coming on shore at the setting in of winter, during all which season they reside on the land. In this interval they engender and bring forth their young, having generally two at a birth, which are suckled by the dams, the young at first being as large as a full-grown seal.

During the time they continue on shore, they feed on the grass and other plants which grow near the banks of fresh-water streams; and, when not employed in feeding, sleep in herds in the most miry places they can find. As they seem of a very lethargic disposition, and are not easily awakened, each herd was observed to place some of their males at a distance, in the nature of centinels, who never failed to alarm them when any one attempted to molest, or even to approach them. The noise they make is very loud, and of different kinds; sometimes grunting like hogs, and at other times snorting like horses in full vigour. Especially the males have often furious battles, principally about their females; and we were one day extremely surprised at seeing two animals, which at first appeared quite different from any we had before observed; but on a nearer approach, they proved to be two sea-lions, which had been goring each other with their teeth, and were all covered over with blood. The bashaw, formerly mentioned, who generally lay surrounded by a seraglio of females, to which no other male dared approach, had not acquired that envied pre-eminence without many bloody contests, of which the marks remained in numerous scars in every part of his body.

That which furnished us with the most delicious of our repasts, while at this island, still remains to be described. This was the fish, with which the whole bay was most abundantly stored, and in the greatest variety. We found here cod of prodigious size; and by the report of some of our crew, who had been formerly employed in the Newfoundland fishery, not less plentiful than on the banks of that island. We had also cavallies, gropers, large breams, maids, silver-fish, congers of a particular kind; and above all, a black fish which we esteemed most, called by some the chimney-sweeper, in shape somewhat resembling a carp. The beach, indeed, was every where so full of rocks and loose stones, that there was no possibility of hauling the seyne; but with hooks and lines we caught what numbers we pleased, so that a boat with only two or three lines, would return loaded with fish in two or three hours. The only interruption we ever met with arose from great quantities of dog-fish and large sharks, which sometimes attended our boats, and prevented our sport.

Besides these fish, we found one other delicacy in greater perfection, both as to size, quantity, and flavour, than is to be met with perhaps in any other part of the world. This was sea craw-fish, usually weighing eight or nine pounds each, of a most excellent taste, and in such vast numbers near the edge of the water, that our boat-hooks often struck into them in putting the boats to and from the shore.

These are the most material articles relating to the accommodations, soil, vegetables, animals, and other productions of the island of Juan Fernandez, by which it will distinctly appear how admirably this place was adapted for recovering us from the deplorable situation to which we had been reduced by our tedious and unfortunate navigation round Cape Horn. Having thus given the reader some idea of the situation and circumstances of this island, in which we resided for six months, I shall now proceed to relate all that occurred to us in that period, resuming the narrative from the 18th of June, on which day the Tryal sloop, having been driven out by a squall three days before, came again to her moorings, on which day also we finished sending our sick on shore, being about eight days after our first anchoring at this island.

SECTION XII.

Separate Arrivals of the Gloucester, and Anna Pink, at Juan Fernandez, and Transactions at that Island during the Interval.

The arrival of the Tryal sloop at this island, so soon after we came there ourselves in the Centurion, gave us great hopes of being speedily joined by the rest of the squadron; and we were accordingly for some days continually looking out, in expectation of their coming in sight. After near a fortnight had elapsed without any of them appearing, we began to despair of ever meeting them again, knowing, if our ship had continued so much longer at sea, that we should every man of us have perished, and the vessel, occupied only by dead bodies, must have been left to the caprice of the winds and waves; and this we had great reason to fear was the fate of our consorts, as every hour added to the probability of these desponding suggestions. But, on the 21st of June, some of our people, from an eminence on shore, discerned a ship to leeward, with her courses even with the horizon. They could, at the same time, observe that she had no sails aboard, except her courses and main-topsail. This circumstance made them conclude that it must be one of our squadron, which had probably suffered as severely in her sails and rigging as we had done. They were prevented, however, from forming more definite conjectures concerning her; for, after viewing her a short time, the weather grew thick and hazy, and she was no longer to be seen.

On this report, and no ship appearing for some days, we were all under the greatest concern, suspecting that her people must be under the utmost distress for want of water, and so weakened and diminished in numbers by sickness, as to be unable to ply up to windward, so that we dreaded, after having been in sight of the island, that her whole crew might yet perish at sea. On the 21st, at noon, we again discerned a ship at sea in the N.E. quarter, which we conceived to be the same that had been seen before, and our conjecture proved true. About one o'clock she had come so near that we could plainly distinguish her to be the Gloucester; and as we had no doubt of her being in great distress, the commodore immediately ordered out his boat to our assistance, laden with fresh water, fish, and vegetables, which was a most comfortable relief to them; for our apprehensions of their calamitous situation were only too well founded, as there never was, perhaps, a crew in greater distress. They had already thrown two-thirds of their complement overboard; and of those who remained alive, scarcely any were capable of doing duty, except the officers and their servants. They had been a considerable time at the small allowance of a pint of water to each man in twenty-four hours, and yet had so very little left, that they must soon have died of thirst, had it not been for the supply sent them by our commodore.

The Gloucester plied up within three miles of the bay, but could not reach the road, both wind and currents being contrary. She continued, however, in the offing next day; and as she had no chance of being able to come to anchor, the commodore repeated his assistance, sending off the Tryal's boat, manned with the people of the Centurion, with a farther supply of water, and other refreshments. Captain Mitchell of the Gloucester was under the necessity of detaining both this boat and that sent the preceding day, as he had no longer strength to navigate his ship without the aid of both their crews. The Gloucester continued near a fortnight in this tantalizing situation, without being able to fetch the road, though frequently making the attempt, and even at times bidding fair to effect the object in view. On the 9th July, we observed her stretching away to the eastward, at a considerable distance, which we supposed was with a design to get to the southward of the island; but, as she did not again appear for near a week, we were prodigiously alarmed for her safety, knowing that she must be again in extreme distress for want of water. After great impatience about her, we again discovered her on the 16th, endeavouring to come round the eastern point of the island, but the wind still blowing directly from the bay, prevented her from getting nearer than within four miles of the land.

Captain Mitchell now made signals of distress, and our long-boat, was sent off with a good supply of water, and plenty of fish and other refreshments: And, as the long-boat could not be wanted, the cockswain had positive orders from the commodore to return immediately. But next day proving stormy, and the boat not appearing, we much feared she was lost, which would have been an irretrievable misfortune to us all. We were relieved, however, from this anxiety on the third day after, by the joyful appearance of her sails on the water, on which the cutter was sent to her assistance, and towed her alongside in a few hours, when we found that the long-boat had taken in six of the Gloucester's sick men, to bring them on shore, two of whom had died in the boat. We now learnt that the Gloucester was in a most dreadful condition, having scarcely a man in health on board, except the few she had received from us. Numbers of their sick were dying daily, and it appeared, had it not been for the last supply sent by our long-boat, that both the healthy and diseased must all have perished for want of water. This calamitous situation was the more terrifying, as it appeared to be without remedy; for the Gloucester had already spent a month in fruitless endeavours to fetch the bay, and was now no farther advanced than when she first made the island. The hopes of her people of ever succeeding were now worn out, by the experience of its difficulty; and, indeed, her situation became that same day more desperate than ever, as we again lost sight of her, after receiving our last supply of refreshments, so that we universally despaired of her ever coming to anchor.

Thus was this unhappy vessel bandied about, within a few leagues of her intended harbour, while the near neighbourhood of that place, and of these circumstances which could alone put an end to the calamities under which her people laboured, served only to aggravate their distress, by torturing them with a view of the relief they were unable to reach. She was at length delivered from this dreadful situation at a time when we least expected it: For, after having lost sight of her for several days, we were joyfully surprised, in the morning of the 23d July, to see her open the N.W. point of the bay with a flowing sail, when we immediately dispatched what boats we had to her assistance, and within an hour from our first perceiving her, she anchored safe within us in the bay.

We were now more particularly convinced of the importance of the assistance and refreshments we had repeatedly sent her, and how impossible it must have been for a single man of her crew to have survived, had we given less attention to their wants. For, notwithstanding the water, vegetables, and fresh provisions with which we had supplied them, and the hands we had sent to assist in navigating the ship, by which the fatigue of her own people had been greatly diminished, their sick relieved, and the mortality abated; notwithstanding this provident care of our commodore, they yet buried above three-fourths of their crew, and a very small proportion of the survivors remained capable of assisting in the duty of the ship. On getting to anchor, our first care was to assist them in mooring, and the next to get their sick on shore. These were now reduced, by numerous deaths, to less than fourscore, of which we expected the greatest part to have died; but whether it was that those farthest advanced in the cruel distemper had already perished, or that the vegetables and fresh provisions we had sent had prepared those who remained alive for a more speedy recovery, it so happened, contrary to our fears, that their sick, in general, were relieved and restored to health in a much shorter time than our own had been when we first came to the island, and very few of them died on shore.

Having thus given an account of the principal events relating to the arrival of the Gloucester, in one continued narration, I shall only add, that we were never joined by any other of our ships, except our victualler, the Anna pink, which came in about the middle of August, and whose history I shall defer for the present, as it is now high time, to return to our own transactions, both on board and ashore, during the anxious interval of the Gloucester making frequent and ineffectual attempts to reach the island.

Our next employment, after sending our sick on shore from the Centurion, was cleansing our ship, and filling our water casks. The former of these measures was indispensably necessary to our future health, as the number of our sick, and the unavoidable negligence arising from our deplorable situation at sea, had rendered the decks most intolerably loathsome. The filling our water was also a caution that appeared essential to our security, as we had reason to apprehend that accidents might intervene which would oblige us to quit the island at a very short warning, as some appearances we had discovered on shore, at our first landing, gave us grounds to believe that there were Spanish cruizers in these seas, which had left the island only a short time before our arrival, and might possibly return again, either for a supply of water, or in search of us. For we could not doubt that the sole purpose they had at sea was to intercept us, and we knew that this island was the likeliest place, in their opinion, to meet with us. The circumstances which gave rise to these reflections, in part of which we were not mistaken, as will appear more at large hereafter, were our finding on shore several pieces of earthen jars, made use of in these seas for holding water and other liquids, which appeared fresh broken. We saw also many heaps of casks, near which were fish bones and pieces of fish, besides whole fish scattered here and there, which plainly appeared to have been only a short time out of the water, as they were but just beginning to decay.

These were infallible indications that there had been a ship or ships at this place only a short time before our arrival; and, as all Spanish merchant ships are instructed to avoid this island, on account of its being the common rendezvous of their enemies, we concluded that those which had touched here must have been ships of force; and, as we knew not that Pizarro had returned to the Rio Plata, and were ignorant what strength might have been fitted out at Calao, we were under considerable apprehensions for our safety, being in so wretched and enfeebled a condition, as, notwithstanding the rank of our ship, and the sixty guns with which she was armed, there was hardly a privateer sent to sea that was not an overmatch for us. Our fears on this head, however, fortunately proved imaginary, and we were not exposed to the disgrace which must unavoidably have befallen us, had we been reduced to the necessity, by the appearance of an enemy, of fighting our sixty-gun ship with no more than thirty hands.

While employed in cleaning our ship, and filling our water casks, we set up a large copper oven on shore, near the sick tents, in which fresh bread was baked every day for the ship's company, as, being extremely desirous of recovering our sick as soon as possible, we believed that new bread, added to their green vegetables and fresh fish, might prove powerfully conducive to their relief. Indeed, we had all imaginable inducements to endeavour at augmenting our present strength, as every little accident, which to a full crew would have been insignificant, was extremely alarming in our present helpless condition. Of this we had a troublesome instance, on the 30th of June, at five in the morning, when we were alarmed by a violent gust of wind directly off shore, which instantly parted our small bower cable, about ten fathoms from the ring of the anchor. The ship at once swung off to the best bower, which happily stood the violence of the jerk, and brought us up, with two cables on end, in eighty fathoms.

At this time we had not above a dozen seamen in the ship, and were apprehensive, if the squall continued, that we might be driven out to sea in this helpless condition. We sent, therefore, the boat on shore, to bring off all who were capable of acting; and the wind soon abating of its fury, gave us an opportunity of receiving the boat back with a reinforcement. With this additional strength, we went immediately to work, to have in what remained of the broken cable, which we suspected to have received some injury from the ground before it parted, and accordingly we found that seven fathoms and a half had been chaffed and rendered unserviceable. In the afternoon, we bent this cable to the spare anchor, and got it over the bows. Next morning, the 1st of July, being favoured by the wind in gentle breezes, we warped the ship in again, and let go the anchor in forty-one fathoms; the eastern point of the bay now bearing from us E. 1/2 S. the western point N.W. by W. and the bottom of the bay S.S.W. as before. We were, however, much concerned for the loss of our anchor, and swept frequently to endeavour its recovery; but the buoy having sunk at the instant when the cable parted, we could never find it again.

As the month of July advanced, and some of our sick men were tolerably recovered, the strongest of them were set to cut down trees, and to split them into billets, while others, too weak for this work, undertook to carry the billets, by one at a time, to the water side. This they performed, some by the help of crutches, and others supported by a single stick. We next set up the forge on shore, and employed our smith, who was just capable of working, to repair our chain-plates, and other broken and decayed iron-work. We began also the repair of our rigging; but as we had not enough of junk to make spun-yarn, we deferred the general overhaul in the daily hope of the Gloucester arriving, which was known to have a great quantity of junk on board. That we might dispatch our refitting as fast as possible, we set up a large tent on the beach for the sail-makers, who were employed diligently in repairing our old sails and making new ones. These occupations, with cleansing and watering our ship, now pretty well completed, together with attending our sick, and the frequent relief sent to the Gloucester, were the principal transactions of our infirm crew, till the arrival of the Gloucester at anchor in the bay.

Captain Mitchell immediately waited on the commodore, whom he informed, that, in his last absence, he had been forced as far as the small island of Masefuero, nearly in the same latitude with the larger island of Juan Fernandez, and thirty leagues farther W. That he had endeavoured to send his boat on shore there for water, of which he observed several streams; but the wind blew so strong upon the shore, and caused so great a surf, that it was impossible to get to land. The attempt, however, was not entirely useless, as the boat came back loaded with fish. This island had been represented, by former navigators, as a mere barren rock, but Captain Mitchell assured the commodore, that it was almost every where covered with trees and verdure, and was nearly four miles in length. He believed also, that some small bay might possibly be found in it which might afford sufficient shelter to any ship desirous of procuring refreshments.

As four ships of our squadron were still missing, this description of Masefuero gave rise to a conjecture, that some of them might possibly have fallen in with that island, mistaking it for the true place of rendezvous. This suspicion was the more reasonable, that we had no draught of either island that could be relied upon; wherefore the commodore resolved to send the Tryal sloop thither, as soon as she could be made ready for sea, in order to examine all its creeks and bays, that it might be ascertained whether any of our missing ships were there or not. For this purpose, some of our best hands were sent on board the Tryal next morning, to overhaul and fix her rigging, and our long-boat was employed to complete her water; what stores and necessaries she wanted, being immediately supplied from the Centurion and Gloucester. It was the 4th of August before the Tryal was in readiness to sail. When, having weighed, it soon after fell calm, and the tide set her very near the eastern shore of the bay. Captain Saunders immediately hung out lights, and fired several guns, to apprise us of his danger; upon which all the boats were sent to his aid, which towed the sloop into the bay, where she anchored till next morning, and then proceeded with a fair breeze.

We were now busily employed in examining and repairing our rigging, and that of the Gloucester; but, in stripping our fore-mast, we were alarmed by discovering that it was sprung just above the partners of the upper deck. This spring was two inches in depth and twelve in circumference; but the carpenters, on inspection, gave it as their opinion, that fishing it with two leaves of an anchor-stock would render it as secure as ever. Besides this defect in our mast, we had other difficulties in refitting, from the want of cordage and canvass; for, although we had taken to sea much greater quantities of both than had ever been done before, yet the continued bad weather we had met with, after passing the straits of Le Maire, had occasioned so great a consumption of these stores, that we were reduced to great straits; as, after working up all our junk and old shrouds, to make twice laid cordage, we were at last reduced to the necessity to unlay a cable, to work up into running rigging; and, with all the canvass and remnants of old sails, that could be mustered, we could only make up one complete suit.

Towards the middle of August, our men being indifferently recovered, they were permitted to quit the sick tents, and to build separate huts for themselves; as it was imagined, by living apart, that they might be much cleanlier, and consequently likely to recover their strength the sooner: But strict orders were given, at the same time, that they were instantly to repair to the water-side, on the firing of a gun from the ship. Their employment now on shore, was either the procurement of refreshments, the cutting of wood, or the procurement of oil from the blubber of sea-lions. This oil served for several purposes; as burning in lamps, mixing with pitch to pay the sides of our ships, or, when worked up with wood-ashes, to supply the place of tallow, of which we had none left, to give the ship boat-hose tops. Some of the men were also occupied in salting cod; for, having two Newfoundland fishermen in the Centurion, the commodore set them to work in providing a considerable quantity of salted cod for sea-store; though very little of it was used, as it was afterwards thought to be equally productive of scurvy with any other kind of salted provisions.

It has been before mentioned, that we set up a copper oven on shore, to bake bread for the sick: But it happened that the greatest part of the flour, for the use of the squadron, was on board the Anna pink. It should also have been mentioned, that the Tryal sloop informed us, on her arrival, that she had fallen in with our victualler, on the 9th of May, not far from the coast of Chili, and had kept company with her for four days, when they were parted in a gale of wind. This gave us some room to hope that she was safe, and might rejoin us: But, all June and July having passed without any news of her, we gave her over for lost; and the commodore, at the end of July, ordered all the ships on a short allowance of bread. Neither was it in bread alone that we feared a deficiency: For, since our arrival at Juan Fernandez, it was discovered that our former purser had neglected to take on board large quantities of several kinds of provisions, which the commodore had expressly ordered him to receive; so that the supposed loss of our victualler was, on all accounts, a most mortifying circumstance.

About noon on Thursday the 16th of August, after we had given over all hopes of the Anna pink, a sail was espied in the northern quarter, on which a gun was immediately fired from the Centurion, to call off the people from the shore, who readily obeyed the summons, by repairing to the beach, where the boats waited to fetch them on board. Being now prepared for the reception of the ship in view, whether friend or enemy, we had various speculations respecting her, many supposing at first, that it was the Tryal sloop returning from the examination of Masefuero. As she drew nearer, this opinion was confuted, by observing that she had three masts, when other conjectures were eagerly canvassed; some judging the vessel in sight to be the Severn and others the Pearl, while several affirmed that she did not belong to our squadron. But, about three in the afternoon, all speculations were ended by the unanimous persuasion that it was our victualler, the Anna pink. And, though, this ship had fallen in with the island to the northward like the Gloucester, she yet had the good fortune to come to anchor in the bay at five in the afternoon. Her arrival gave us all the utmost satisfaction, as the ship's companies were immediately restored to their full allowance of bread, and we were now relieved from the apprehensions of our provisions falling short before we could reach some friendly port,a calamity, in these seas, of all others the most irretrievable. This was the last ship that joined us; and, as the dangers she encountered, and the good fortune she afterwards experienced, are worthy of a separate narration, I shall refer them, together with a short account of the other missing ships, to the ensuing section.

SECTION XIII.

Short Account of what befell the Anna Pink before she rejoined; with an Account of the Loss of the Wager, and the putting back of the Severn and Pearl.

On the first recognition of the Anna pink, it seemed quite wonderful to us how the crew of a vessel, which had thus come to the rendezvous two months after us, should be capable of working their ship in the manner they did, and with so little appearance of debility and distress. This difficulty, however, was soon solved after she came to anchor; for we then found that she had been in harbour since the middle of May, near a month before our arrival at Juan Fernandez, so that their sufferings, excepting the risk they had run of being shipwrecked, were greatly short of what had been undergone by the rest of the squadron.

Under these terrifying circumstances, the Anna continued to drive towards the rocks which formed the shore; and at last, when expecting every instant to strike, they perceived a small opening in the land, which raised their hopes of safety. Wherefore, immediately cutting away their two anchors, they steered for this opening, which they found to be a narrow opening between an island and the main, which led them into a most excellent harbour; which, for its security against all winds and swells, and the consequent smoothness of its water, may perhaps vie with any in the known world: And this place being scarcely two miles from the spot where they deemed their destruction inevitable, the horrors of shipwreck and immediate death, with which they had been so long and strongly possessed, vanished almost in an instant, giving place to the most joyous ideas of security, refreshment, and repose.

In this harbour, discovered almost by miracle, the Anna came to anchor in twenty-five fathoms, with only a hawser and small anchor of about three hundred weight. Here she continued for near two months, and her people, who were many of them ill of the scurvy, were soon restored to perfect health by the fresh provisions, which they procured in abundance, and the excellent water which they found in plenty on the adjacent shore. As this place may prove of the greatest importance to future navigators forced upon this coast by the western winds, which are almost perpetual in that part of the world, it may be proper to give the best account that could be collected of this port, as to its situation, conveniences, and productions, before continuing the adventures of the Anna pink. To facilitate, also, the knowledge of this place, to such as may be desirous hereafter of using it, there is annexed a plan both of the harbour and the large bay before it, through which the Anna drifted. This plan, perhaps, may not be in all respects as accurate as could be wished, being composed from the memorandums and rude sketches of the master and surgeon, who were not the most able draughtsmen; but, as the principal parts were laid down by their estimates of their distances from each other, in which kind of computation seamen are commonly very dextrous, the errors are probably not very considerable.