PART the FIRST.

Departure from France——clearing the Straits of

Magalhaens.

CHAP. I.

Departure of the Boudeuse from Nantes; puts in at Brest; run from Brest to Montevideo; junction with the Spanish frigates, intended for taking possession of the Malouines, or Falkland’s islands.

In February 1764, France began to make a settlement on the Isles Malouines. |Object of the voyage. 1766, November.| Spain reclaimed these isles as belonging to the continent of South America; and her right to them having been acknowledged by the king, I received orders to deliver our settlement to the Spaniards, and to proceed to the East Indies by crossing the South Seas between the Tropics. For this expedition I received the command 2of the frigate la Boudeuse, of twenty-six twelve-pounders, and I was to be joined at the Malouines by the store-ship^[9] l’Etoile, which was intended to bring me the provisions necessary for a voyage of such a length, and to follow me during the whole expedition. Several circumstances retarded the junction of this store-vessel, and consequently made my whole voyage near eight months longer than it would otherwise have been.

Departure from Nantes.

In the beginning of November, 1766, I went to Nantes, where the Boudeuse had just been built, and where M. Duclos Guyot, a captain of a fireship, my second officer, was fitting her out. The 5th of this month we came down from Painbeuf to Mindin, to finish the equipment of her; and on the 15th we sailed from this road for the river de la Plata. There I was to find the two Spanish frigates, called la Esmeralda and la Liebre, that had left Ferrol the 17th of October, and whose commander was ordered to receive the Isles Malouines, or Falkland’s islands, in the name of his Catholic majesty.

Squall of wind.

The 17th in the morning we suffered a sudden gust of wind from W. S. W. to N. W. it grew more violent in the night, which we passed under our bare poles, with our lower-yardslower-yards lowered, the clue of the fore-sail, 3under which we tried before, having been carried away. The 18th, at four in the morning, our fore-top-mast broke about the middle of its height; the main-top-mast resisted till eight o’clock, when it broke in the cap, and carried away the head of the main-mast. |Putting in at Brest.| This last event made it impossible for us to continue our voyage, and I determined to put into Brest, where we arrived the 21st of November.

This squall of wind, and the confusion it had occasioned, gave me room to make the following observations upon the state and qualities of the frigate which I commanded.

1. The prodigious tumbling home of her top-timbers, leaving too little opening to the angles which the shrouds make with the masts, the latter were not sufficiently supported.

2. The preceding fault became of more consequence by the nature of the ballast, which we had been obliged to take in, on account of the prodigious quantity of provisions we had stowed. Forty tuns of ballast, distributed on both sides of the kelson, and at a short distance from it, and a dozen twelve-pounders placed at the bottom of the pump-well (we had only fourteen upon deck) added a considerable weight, which being much below the center of gravity, and almost entirely rested upon the kelson, 4put the masts in danger, if there had been any rolling.

These reflections induced me to get the excessive height of our masts shortened, and to exchange the cannon, which were twelve-pounders, for eight-pounders. Besides the diminution of near twenty ton weight, both in the hold and upon deck, gained by exchanging the artillery, the narrow make of the frigate alone was sufficient to render it necessary. She wanted about two feet of the beam which such frigates have as are intended to carry twelve-pounders.

Notwithstanding these alterations, which I was allowed to make, I could not help observing that my ship was not fit for navigating in the seas round Cape Horn. I had found, during the squall of wind, that she made water from all her upper-works, which might expose part of my biscuit to be spoiled by the water getting into the store-rooms in bad weather; an inconvenience, the consequences of which we should not be able to remedy during the voyage. I therefore asked leave to send the Boudeuse back to France from the Falkland’s islands, under the command of the chevalier Bournand, lieutenant of a ship, and to continue the voyage with the store-ship l’Etoile alone, if the long winter nights should prevent my passing the Straits of 5Magalhaens^[10]. I obtained this permission, and the 4th of December, our masts being repaired, the artillery exchanged, and the frigate entirely caulked in her upper-works, we went out of the port and anchored in the road, where we continued a whole day, in order to embark the powder, and to set up the shrouds.

December. Departure from Brest.

The 5th at noon we got under sail in the road of Brest. I was obliged to cut my cable, because the fresh east-wind and the ebb prevented my tacking about, as I was apprehensive of falling off too near the shore. I had eleven commissioned officers, and three volunteers; and the crew consisted of two hundred sailors, warrant-officers, soldiers, boys, and servants. The prince of Nassau-Sieghen had got leave from the king to go upon this expedition. At four o’clock in the afternoon, the middle of the isle of Ushant bore N. by E. and from thence I took my departure.

Description of the Salvages.

During the first days, we had the wind pretty constant from W. N. W. to W. S. W. and S.W., very fresh. The 17th, afternoon, we got sight of the Salvages; the 18th, of the Isle of Palma; and the 19th, of the Isle of Ferro. What is called the Salvages, is a little isle of about a league in extent from E. to W. it is low in the 6middle, and at each end a little hillock; a chain of rocks, some of which appear above water, extend to the westward about two leagues off the island; there are likewise some breakers on the east-side, but they are not far from the shore.

Error in the calculation of the course.

The sight of these rocks convinced us of a great error in our reckoning; but I would not make a computation before I had seen the Canaries, whose position is exactly determined. The sight of the Isle of Ferro gave me with certainty the correction which I was desirous to make. The 19th, at noon, I took the latitude, and comparing it with the bearings of the Isle of Ferro taken that same hour, I found a difference of four degrees and seven minutes, which I was more to the eastward, than by my reckoning. This error is frequent in crossing from Cape Finisterre to the Canaries, and I had found it on other voyages, as the currents opposite the straits of Gibraltar set to the eastward with great rapidity.

Position of the Salvages rectified.

I had, at the same time, an opportunity of remarking, that the Salvages are improperly placed on M. de Bellin’s Chart. Indeed, when we got sight of them the 17th, after noon, the longitude which their bearings gave us differed from our calculation by three degrees seventeen minutes to the eastward. However, this same difference appeared the 19th of four degrees seven minutes, 7by correcting our place, according to the bearings of the isle of Ferro, whose longitude has been determined by astronomical observations. It must be observed, that during the two days which passed between our getting sight of the Salvages and of Ferro, we sailed with a fair wind; and consequently there can be very little miscalculation in that part of the course. Besides, the 18th, we set the Isle of Palma, bearing S. W. by W. corrected; and, according to M. Bellin, it was to bear S. W. I concluded, from these two observations, that M. Bellin has placed the Isle of Salvages about 32′ more to the W. than it really is.

I therefore took a fresh departure the 19th of December at noon. We met with no remarkable occurrences on our voyage, till we came to the Rio de la Plata; our course furnished us only with the following observations, which may be interesting to navigators.

1767. January. Nautical observations.

1. The 6th and 7th of January 1767, being between 1° 40′ and 0° 38′ north latitude; and about 28° longitude, we saw many birds, which induced me to believe, that we were near the rock of Penedo San Pedro; though M. Bellin does not mark it on his chart.

Passing the line.

2. The 8th of January, in the afternoon, we passed the line between 27° and 28° of longitude.

Remark on the variations.

3. Since the 2nd of January we could no longer observe the variations; and I only reckoned them by the charts 8of William Mountain and James Obson. The 11th, at sun-set, we observed 3° 17′ of N. W. variation; and the 14th, in the morning, I observed again 10′ of N. W. variation with an azimuth-compass, the ship then being in 10° 30′ or 40′ S. latitude, and about 33° 20′ W. longitude, from Paris. Therefore it is certain, that, if my estimated longitude is exact, and I verified it as such at the land-fall^[11], the line of no variation is still further advanced to the westward since the observation of Mountain and Obson; and it seems the progress of this line westward is pretty uniform. Indeed, upon the same degree of latitude, where Mountain and Obson found 12° or 13° of difference in the space of forty-four years, I have found a little more than 6° after an interval of 22 years. This progression deserves to be confirmed by a chain of observations. The discovery of the law by which these changes happen that are observed in the declination of the magnetic needle, besides furnishing us with a method of finding out the longitude at sea, might perhaps lead us to the causes of this variation, and perhaps even to that of the magnetic power.

Causes of the variations found in going to the Brasils.

4. About the line we have almost always observed very great variations on the north-side, though it is more common to observe them on the south-side. We had an opportunity of guessing at the cause of it, the 918th of January passing over a bank with young fish, which extended beyond the reach of our sight, from S. W. byby W. to N. E. byby E. upon a line of reddish white, about two fathoms broad. Our meeting with it, taught us that since some days the currents set in to the N. E. byby E. for all fish spawn upon the coasts, whence the currents detach the fry and carry them into the open sea. On observing these variations N. of which I have spoken, I did not infer from thence, that it was necessary there should be variations westward together with them; likewise the 29th of January, in the evening, when we saw land, I had calculated at noon that it was ten or twelve leagues off, which gave rise to the following observations.

It has long ago been a complaint among navigators, and still continues, that the charts, and especially those of M. Bellin, lay down the coasts of Brasil too much to the eastward. They ground this complaint upon their having got sight of these coasts in their several voyages, when they thought themselves at least eighty or a hundred leagues off. They add, that they have several times observed on these coasts, that the currents had carried them S. W. and they rather choose to tax the charts and astronomical observations 10as erroneous, than suspect their ships reckoning subject to mistakes.

Upon the like reasonings we might have concluded the contrary on our course to Rio de la Plata, if by chance we had not discovered the reason of the variationsvariations N. which we met with. It was evident that the bank with the fry of fish, that we met with the 29th, was subject to the direction of a current; and its distance from the coast proved, that the current had already existed several days. It was therefore the cause of constant errors in our course; and the currents which navigators have often found to set in to the S. W. on these shores, are subject to variations, and sometimes take contrary directions.

This observation being well confirmed, and our course being nearly S. W. were my authorities for correcting our mistakes as to the distances, making them agree with the observations of the latitude, and not to correct the points of the compass. By this method I got sight of the land, almost the same moment when I expected to see it by my calculation. Those amongst us, who always reckoned our course to the westward, according to the ship’s journals, being contented to correct the difference of latitude by the observations at noon, expected to be close to the shore, according 11to their calculation, long before we had so much as got sight of it: but can this give them reason to conclude, that the coast of the Brasils is much more westward than Mr. Bellin has laid it down?

Observations on the currents.

In general it seems, that in this part the currents vary, and sometimes set to the N. E. but more frequently to S. W. One glance at the bearings and position of the coast is sufficient to prove that they can only follow one or the other of these directions; and it is always easy to distinguish which of the two then takes place by the differences north or south, which the latitude gives. To these currents we may impute the frequent errors of which navigators complain; and I am of opinion Mr. Bellin has laid down the coasts of the Brasils with exactness. I believe it the more readily, as the longitude of Rio Janeiro has been determined by Messrs. Godin, and the Abbé de la Caille, who met there in 1751; and as some observations of the longitude have likewise been made at Fernambuco and Buenos Ayres. These three points being determined, there can be no considerable error in regard to the longitude of the eastern coasts of America, from 8° to 35° S. latitude; and this has been confirmed to us by experience.

Entry into Rio de la Plata.

Since the 27th of January we found ground, and on the 29th, in the evening, we saw the land, though we could not take the bearings, as night was coming 12on, and the shore very low. The night was dark, with rain and thunder. We lay-to under our reefed top-sails, the head towards the offing. On the 30th, by break of day, we perceived the mountains of Maldonado: it was then easily discovered that the land we saw the evening before, was the isle of Lobos. |Necessary correction in M. Bellin’s chart.| However, as our latitude, when we arrived, was 35° 16′ 20″ we must have taken it for cape Santa Maria, which Mr. Bellin places in 35° 15′, though its true latitude is 34° 55′; I take notice of this false position, because it might prove dangerous. A ship sailing in 35° 15′ S. latitude, and expecting to find cape Santa Maria, might run the risk of getting upon the English Bank without having seen any land. However, the soundings would caution them against the approaching danger; for, near the sand, you find no more than six or seven fathoms of water. The French Bank, or Sand, which is no more than a prolongation of cape San Antonio, would be more dangerous; just before you come to the northern point of it, you find from twelve to fourteen fathoms of water.

Anchoring-place at the Maldonados.

The Maldonados are the first high lands one sees on the north-side after entering the Rio de la Plata, and almost the only ones till you come to Montevideo. East of these mountains there is an anchorage upon a very low coast; it is a creek sheltered by a little island. 13The Spaniards have a little town at the Maldonados, with a garrison. In its neighbourhood is a poor gold mine, that has been worked these few years; in it they likewise find pretty transparent stones. About two leagues inland is a town newly built, and entirely peopled with Portugueze deserters; it is called Pueblo Nuevo.

Anchoring at Montevideo.

The 31st, at eleven in the morning, we anchored in Montevideo bay, having four fathom water, with a black, soft, muddy bottom. We had passed the night between the 30th and 31st in nine fathoms, the same bottom, five or six leagues east of the isle of Flores. The two Spanish frigates, which were to take possession of the Isles Malouines (Falkland’s Island) had lain in the road a whole month. |February.| Their commander, Don Philip Ruis Puente, captain of a man of war, was appointed governor of those islands; we went together to Buenos Ayres, in order to concert the necessary measures with the governor-general, for the cession of the settlement, which I was to deliver up to the Spaniards. We did not make a long stay there, and I returned to Montevideo on the 16th of February.

Journey from Buenos Ayres to Montevideo.

The prince of Nassau went with me, and as a contrary wind prevented our returning in a schooner, we landed opposite Buenos Ayres, above the colony of San Sacramento, and made this tour by land. We crossed 14those immense plains, in which travellers are guided by the eye, taking care not to miss the fords in the rivers, and driving before themselves thirty or forty horses, among which they must take some with nooses, in order to have relays, when those on which they ride are fatigued. We lived upon meat which was almost raw; and passed the nights in huts made of leather, in which our sleep was constantly interrupted by the howlings of tygers that lurk around them. I shall never forget in what manner we crossed the river St. Lucia, which is very deep, rapid, and wider than the Seine opposite the Hospital of Invalids at Paris. You get into a narrow, long canoe, one of whose sides is half as high again as the other; two horses are then forced into the water, one on the starboard, and the other on the larboard side of the canoe, and the master of the ferry, being quite naked, (which, though a very wise precaution, is insufficientinsufficient to encourage passengers that cannot swim) holds up the horses heads as well as he can above the water, obliging them to swim over the river, and to draw the canoe, if they be strong enough for it.

Don Ruis arrived at Montevideo a few days after us. There arrived at the same time two boats laden, one with wood and refreshments, the other with biscuit and flour, which we took on board, in place of 15that which had been consumed on our voyage from Brest. The Spanish frigates being likewise ready, we prepared to leave Rio de la Plata.

CHAP. II.

Account of the establishment of the Spaniards in Rio de

la Plata.

1767.

Rio de la Plata, or the river of Plate, does not go by that same name from its source. |Incertainty concerning the source of this river.|It is said to spring from the lake Xaragès, near 16° 30′ south, under the name of Paraguai, which it communicates to the immense extent of land it passes through. In about 27° it joins with the river Parana, whose name it takes, together with its waters. It then runs due south to lat. 34°; where it receives the river Uraguai, and directs its course eastward, by the name of la Plata, which it keeps to the sea.

The Jesuit geographers, who were the first that attributed the origin of this great river to the lake of Xaragès, have been mistaken, and other writers have followed their mistake in this particular. The existence of this lake, which has been in vain sought for, is now acknowledged to be fabulous. The marquis of Valdelirais and Don George Menezès, having been appointed, 16the one by Spain and the other by Portugal, for settling the limits between the possessions of these two powers in this country, several Spanish and Portuguese officers went through the whole of this portion of America, from 1751 till 1755. Part of the Spaniards went up the river Paraguai, expecting by this means to come into the lake of Xaragès; the Portuguese on their part, setting out from Maragosso, a settlement of theirs upon the inner boundaries of the Brasils, in about 12° south latitude, embarked on a river called Caourou, which the same maps of the Jesuits marked, as falling into the lake of Xaragès. They were both much surprised at meeting in the river Paraguai, in 14° S. latitude, without having seen any lake. They proved, that what had been taken for a lake, was a great extent of very low grounds, which, during a certain season, are covered by the inundations of the river.

Sources of the river Plata.

The Paraguai, or Rio de la Plata, arises between 5° and 6° S. latitude nearly in the middle between the two oceans, and in the same mountains whence the Madera comes, which empties itself into the river of Amazons. The Parana and Uraguai arise both in the Brasils; the Uraguai in the captainship of St. Vincent; the Parana near the Atlantic ocean, in the mountains that lie to the E. N. E. of Rio Janeiro, whence it 17takes its course to the westward, and afterwards turns south.

Date of the first settlements of the Spaniards there.

The abbé Prevost has given the history of the discovery of the Rio de la Plata, and of the obstacles the Spaniards met with, in forming the first settlements they made there. It appears from his account that Diaz de Solis first entered this river in 1515, and gave his name to it, which it bore till 1526, when Sebastian Cabot changed it to that of la Plata, or of Silver, on account of the quantity of that metal he found among the natives there. Cabot built the fort of Espiritù Santo, upon the river Tercero, thirty leagues above the junction of the Paraguai and Uraguai; but this settlement was destroyed almost as soon as it was constructed.

Don Pedro de Mendoza, great cup-bearer to the emperor, was then sent to the Rio de la PlataRio de la Plata in 1535. He laid the first foundations of Buenos Ayres, under bad auspices, on the right hand shore of the river, some leagues below its junction with the Uraguai, and his whole expedition was a chain of unfortunate events, that did not even end at his death.

The inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, being continually interrupted by the Indians, and constantly oppressed by famine, were obliged to leave the place and to retire to Assumption. This town, now the capital of Paraguai, was founded by some Spaniards, attendants of 18Mendoza, upon the western shore of the river, three hundred leagues from its mouth, and was in a very short space of time considerably enlarged. At length Don Pedro Ortiz de Zarata, governor of Paraguay, rebuilt Buenos Ayres in 1580, on the same spot where the unhappy Mendoza had formerly laid it out, and fixed his residence there: the town became the staple to which European ships resorted, and by degrees the capital of all these tracts, the see of a bishop, and the residence of a governor-general.

Situation of the town of Buenos Ayres.

Buenos Ayres is situated in 34° 35′ south latitude, its longitude is 61° 5′ west from Paris, according to the astronomical observations of father Feuillée. It is built regular, and much larger than the number of its inhabitants would require, which do not exceed twenty thousand, whites, negroes, and mestizos. The way of building the houses gives the town this great extent; for, if we except the convents, public buildings, and five or six private mansions, they are all very low, and have no more than a ground-floor, with vast court-yards, and most of them a garden. The citadel, which includes the governor’s palace, is situated upon the shore of the river, and forms one of the sides of the great square, opposite to which the town-hall is situated; the cathedral and episcopal palace occupy the two 19other sides of the square, in which a public market is daily held.

This town wants a harbour.

There is no harbour at Buenos Ayres, nor so much as a mole, to facilitate the landing of boats. The ships can only come within three leagues of the town; there they unload their goods into boats, which enter a little river, named Rio Chuelo, from whence the merchandizes are brought in carts to the town, which is about a quarter of a league from the landing-place. The ships which want careening, or take their lading at Buenos Ayres, go to la Ençenada de Baragon, a kind of port about nine or ten leagues E. S. E. of this town.

Religious establishments.

Buenos Ayres contains many religious communities of both sexes. A great number of holidays are yearly celebrated by processions and fireworks. The monks have given the title of Majordomes or Stewards of the founders of their orders, and of the holy Virgin, to the principal ladies in this town. This post gives them the exclusive charge of ornamenting the church, dressing the statue of the tutelar saint, and wearing the habit of the order. It is a singular sight for a stranger to see ladies of all ages in the churches of St. Francis and St. Dominique assist in officiating, and wear the habit of those holy institutors.

The Jesuits have offered a much more austere mode of sanctification than the former to the pious ladies. Adjoining 20to their convent, they had a house, called Casa de los Exercicios de las Mugeres, i. e. the House for the Exercises of Women. Married and unmarried women, without the consent of their husbands or parents, went to be sanctified there by a retreat of twelve days. They were lodged and boarded at the expence of the community. No man was admitted into this sanctuary, unless he wore the habit of St. Ignatius; even servant-maids were not allowed to attend their mistresses thither. The exercises practised in this holy place were meditation, prayer, catechetical instructions, confession, and flagellation. They shewed us the walls of the chapel, yet stained with the blood, which, as they told us, was dispersed by the rods wherewith penitence armed the hands of these Magdalens.

All men are brothers, and religion makes no distinction in regard to their colour. There are sacred ceremonies for the slaves, and the Dominicans have established a religious community of negroes. They have their chapels, masses, holidays, and decent burials, and all this costs every negro that belongs to the community only four reals a year. This community of negroes acknowledges St. Benedict of Palermo, and the Virgin, as their patrons, perhaps on account of these words of scripture; “Nigra sum, sed formosa filia Jerusalem.” On the holidays of these tutelary saints, they 21chuse two kings, one to represent the king of Spain, the other the Portugueze monarch, and each of them chooses a queen. Two bands, armed and well dressed, form a procession, and follow the kings, marching with the cross, banners, and a band of music. They sing, dance, represent battles between the two parties, and repeat litanies. This festivity lasts from morning till night, and the sight of it is diverting.

Environs of Buenos Ayres, and their productions.

The environs of Buenos Ayres are well-cultivated. Most of the inhabitants of that city have their country-houses there, called Quintas, furnishing all the necessaries of life in abundance. I except wine, which they get from Spain, or from Mandoza, a vineyard about two hundred leagues from Buenos Ayres. The cultivated environs of this city do not extend very far; for at the distance of only three leagues from the city, there are immense fields, left to an innumerable multitude of horses and black cattle. One scarce meets with a few scattered huts, on crossing this vast country, erected not so much with a view of cultivating the soil, as rather to secure the property of the ground, or of the cattle upon it to their several owners. Travellers, who cross this plain, find no accommodations, and are obliged to sleep in the same carts they travel in, and which are the only kind of carriages made use of on long journeys here. Those who travel on horseback 22are often exposed to lie in the fields, without any covering.

Abundance of cattle.

The country is a continued plain, without other forests than those of fruit trees. It is situated in the happiest climate, and would be one of the most fertile in the world in all kinds of productions, if it were cultivated. The small quantity of wheat and maize which is sown there, multiplies by far more than in our best fields in France. Notwithstanding these natural advantages, almost the whole country lies neglected, as well in the neighbourhood of the Spanish settlements, as at the greatest distance from them; or, if by chance you meet with any improvements, they are generally made by negro-slaves. Horses and horned cattle are in such great abundance in these plains, that those who drive the oxen before the carts, are on horseback; and the inhabitants, or travellers, when pressed by hunger, kill an ox, take what they intend to eat of it, and leave the rest as a prey to wild dogs and tygers^[12], which are the only dangerous animals in this country.

The dogs were originally brought from Europe: the ease with which they are able to get their livelihood in the open fields, has induced them to leave the habitations, 23and they have encreased their species innumerably. They often join in packs to attack a wild bull, and even a man on horseback, when they are pressed by hunger. The tygers are not numerous, except in woody parts, which are only to be found on the banks of rivulets. The inhabitants of these countries are known to be very dexterous in using nooses; and it is fact, that some Spaniards do not fear to throw a noose, even upon a tyger; though it is equally certain that some of them unfortunately became the prey of these ravenous creatures. At Montevideo, I saw a species of tyger-cat, whose hairs were pretty long, and of a whitish grey. The animal is very low upon its legs, about five feet long, fierce, and very scarce.

Scarcity of wood; means of remedying it.

Wood is very dear at Buenos Ayres, and at Montevideo. In the neighbourhood of these places, are only some little shrubs, hardly fit for fuel. All timber for building houses, and constructing and refitting the vessels that navigate in the river, comes from Paraguai in rafts. It would, however, be easy to get all the timber for constructing the greatest ships from the upper parts of the country. From Montegrande, where they have the finest wood, it might be transported in single round stems, through the river Ybicui, into the Uraguai, and from the Salto-Chico of the Uraguai, 24some vessels made on purpose for this use, might bring it to such places upon the river, where docks were built.

Account of the natives of this country.

The Indians, who inhabit this part of America, north and south of the river de la Plata, are of that race called by the Spaniards Indios bravos.—They are middle-sized, very ugly, and afflicted with the itch. They are of a deep tawny colour, which they blacken still more, by continually rubbing themselves with grease. They have no other dress than a great cloak of roe-deer skins, hanging down to their heels, in which they wrap themselves up. These skins are very well dressed; they turn the hairy side inwards, and paint the outside with various colours. The distinguishing mark of their cacique is a band or strap of leather, which is tied round his forehead; it is formed into a diadem or crown, and adorned with plates of copper. Their arms are bows and arrows; and they likewise make use of nooses and of balls^[13]. These Indians are always on horseback, and have no fixed habitations, at least not near the Spanish settlements. Sometimes they come with their 25wives to buy brandy of the Spaniards; and they do not cease to drink of it, till they are so drunk as not to be able to stir. In order to get strong liquors, they sell their arms, furs, and horses; and having disposed of all they are possessed of, they seize the horses they can meet with near the habitations, and make off. Sometimes they come in bodies of two or three hundred men, to carry off the cattle from the lands of the Spaniards, or to attack the caravans of travellers. They plunder and murder, or carry them into slavery. This evil cannot be remedied: for, how is it possible to conquer a nomadic nation, in an immense uncultivated country, where it would be difficult even to find them: besides, these Indians are brave and inured to hardships; and those times exist no longer, when one Spaniard could put a thousand Indians to flight.

Race of robbers, settled on the north side of the river.

A set of robbers united into a body, a few years ago, on the north side of the river, and may become more dangerous to the Spaniards than they are at present, if efficacious measures are not taken to destroy them. Some malefactors escaped from the hands of justice, retired to the north of the Maldonadoes; some deserters joined them; their numbers encreased insensibly; they took wives from among the Indians, and founded a race of men who live upon robberies. They make inroads, and carry off the cattle 26in the Spanish possessions, which they conduct to the boundaries of the Brasils, where they barter it with the Paulists^[14], against arms and clothes. Unhappy are the travellers that fall into their hands. They are now, it is said, upwards of six hundred in number, have left their first habitation, and are retired much further to the north-west.

Extent of the government de la Plata.

The governor-general of the province de la Plata resides, as I have already mentioned, at Buenos Ayres. In all matters which do not concern the marine, he is reckoned dependent upon the viceroy of Peru; but the great distance between them almost annuls this dependency, and it only exists in regard to the silver, which he is obliged to get out of the mines of Potosi; this, however, will no longer be brought over in shapeless pieces, as a mint has been established this year at Potosi. The particular governments of Tucuman and Paraguai (the principal settlements of which are Santa-Fé, Corrientes, Salta, Tujus, Cordoua, Mendoza, and Assumption) are dependent, together with the famous missions of the Jesuits, upon the governor-general of la Plata. This vast province contains, in a word, all the possessions of the Spaniards, east of the Cordilleras, from the river of Amazons to the straits of Magalhaens. It is true, there is no settlement south of Buenos Ayres; and nothing 27but the necessity of providing themselves with salt, induces the Spaniards to penetrate into those parts. For this purpose a convoy of two hundred carts, escorted by three hundred men, sets out every year from Buenos Ayres, and goes to the latitude of forty degrees, to load the salt in lakes near the sea, where it is naturally formed. Formerly the Spaniards used to send schooners to the bay of St. Julian, to fetch salt.

I shall speak of the missions in Paraguay when I come to the second voyage, which some circumstances obliged us to make again into the river of la Plata; I shall then enter into the account of the expulsion of the Jesuits, of which we were witnesses.

The commerce of the province de la Plata is less profitable than any in Spanish America; this province produces neither gold nor silver, and its inhabitants are not numerous enough to be able to get at all the other riches which the soil produces and contains. The commerce of Buenos Ayres itself is not in the same state it was in about ten years ago; it is fallen off considerably, since the trade by land is no longer permitted; that is, since it has been prohibited to carry European goods by land from Buenos Ayres to Peru and Chili; so that the only objects of the commerce with these two provinces are, at present, cotton, mules, and 28maté, or the Paraguay-herb^[15]. The money and interest of the merchants at Lima have obtained this order, against which those of Buenos Ayres have complained. The law-suit is carried on at Madrid, and I know not how or when it will be determined. However, Buenos Ayres is a very rich place: I have seen a register-ship sail from thence, with a million of dollars on board; and if all the inhabitants of this country could get rid of their leather or skins in Europe, that article alone 29would suffice to enrich them. |Colony of Santo Sacramento.| Before the last war, they carried on a prodigious contraband-trade with the colony of Santo Sacramento, a place in the possession of the Portuguese, upon the left side of the river, almost directly opposite Buenos Ayres. But this place is now so much surrounded by the new works, erected by the Spaniards, that it is impossible to carry on any illicit trade with it, unless by connivance; even the Portuguese, who inhabit the place, are obliged to get their subsistence by sea from the Brasils. In short, this station bears the same relation to Spain here, as Gibraltar does in Europe; with this difference only, that the former belongs to the Portuguese, and the latter to the English.

Account of the town of Montevideo.

The town of Montevideo has been settled forty years ago, is situated on the north side of the river, thirty leagues above its mouth, and built on a peninsula, which lies convenient to secure from the east wind, a bay of about two leagues deep, and one league wide at its entrance. At the western point of this isle, is a single high mountain, which serves as a look out, and has given a name to the town; the other lands, which surround it, are very low. That side which looks towards a plain, is defended by a citadel. Several batteries guard the side towards the sea and the harbour. There is a battery upon a very little isle, in the 30bottom of the bay, called Isle au François, or French-Island. |Anchorage in this bay.| The anchorage at Montevideo is safe, though sometimes molested by pamperos, which are storms from the south-west, accompanied by violent tempests. There is no great depth of water in the whole bay; and one may moor in three, four, or five fathoms of water in a very soft mud, where the biggest merchant-ships run a-ground, without receiving any damage; but sharp-built ships easily break their backs, and are lost. The tides do not come in regular; according as the wind is, the water is high or low. It is necessary to be cautious, in regard to a chain of rocks that extends some cables-length off the east point of the bay; the sea forms breakers upon them, and the people of this country call them la Punta de las Carretas.

It is an excellent place to put in at for refreshments.

Montevideo has a governor of its own, who is immediately under the orders of the governor-general of the province. The country round this town is almost entirely uncultivated, and furnishes neither wheat nor maize; they must get flour, biscuit, and other provisions for the ships from Buenos Ayres. In the gardens belonging to the town, and to the adjoining houses, they cultivate scarce any legumes; there is, however, plenty of melons, calabashes, figs, peaches, apples, and quinces. Cattle are as abundant there as in any other part of this country; which, together with 31the wholesomeness of the air, makes Montevideo an excellent place to put in at for the crew; only good measures must be taken to prevent desertion. Every thing invites the sailor thither; it being a country, where the first reflection which strikes him, on setting his feet on shore, is, that they live there almost without working. Indeed, how is it possible to resist the comparison of spending one’s days in idleness and tranquility, in a happy climate, or of languishing under the weight of a constantly laborious life, and of accelerating the misfortunes of an indigent old age, by the toils of the sea?

32

CHAP. III.

Departure from Montevideo; navigation to the Málouines; delivery of them into the hands of the Spaniards; historical digression on the subject of these islands.

1767. February. Departure from Montevideo.

The 28th of February, 1767, we weighed from Montevideo, in company with two Spanish frigates, and a tartane laden with cattle. I agreed with Don Ruis, that whilst we were in the river, he should lead the way; but that as soon as we were got out to sea, I was to conduct the squadron. However, to obviate the dangers in case of a separation, I gave each of the frigates a pilot, acquainted with the coasts of the Malouines. In the afternoon we were obliged to come to an anchor, as a fog prevented our seeing either the main-land, or the isle of Flores. The next morning we had contrary wind; however, I expected that we should have weighed, as the strong currents in the river favoured us; but seeing the day almost at an end, without any signal being given by the Spanish commodore, I sent an officer to tell him, that having had a sight of the isle of Flores, I found myself too near the English sand-bank, and that I advised we should weigh the next day, whether the wind was fair or not. Don Ruis 33answered, that he was in the hands of the pilot of the river, who would not weigh the anchor till we had a settled fair wind. The officer then informed him from me, that I should sail by day-break; and that I would wait for him, by plying to windward, or by anchoring more to the north, unless the tides or the violence of the wind should separate us against my will.

The tartane had not cast anchor the last night; and we lost sight of her, and never saw her again. She returned to Montevideo three weeks after, without fulfilling its intended expedition. |Storm in the river.| The night was stormy; the pamperos blew very violently, and made us drag our anchor; however, we cast another anchor, and that fixed us. By day-break we saw the Spanish ships, with their yards and top-masts struckyards and top-masts struck, and had dragged their anchors much further than ourselves. |1767. March.| The wind was still contrary and violent, the sea very high, and it was nine o’clock before we could proceed under our courses and top-sailscourses and top-sails; at noon we lost sight of the Spaniards, who remained at anchor, and the third of March in the evening we were got out of the river.

Voyage from Montevideo to the Malouines.

During our voyage to the Malouines, we had variable winds from N. W. to S. W. almost always stormy weather and high seas: we were obliged to try under our main-sail on the 16th, having suffered some damage. Since the 17th in the afternoon, 34when we came into soundings, the weather was very foggy. The 19th, not seeing the land, though the horizon was clear, and I was east of the Sebald’s isles by my reckoning, I was afraid I had gone beyond the Malouines, and therefore resolved to sail westward; the wind, which is a rare circumstance, favoured my resolution. I proceeded very fast in twenty-four hours, and having then found the soundings off the coast of Patagonia, I was sure as to my position, and so proceeded again very confidently to the eastward. Indeed, the 21st, at four o’clock in the afternoon, we discovered the Sebald’s isles, remaining in N. E. by E.N. E. by E. eight or ten leagues distant, and soon after we saw the coast of the Malouines. |Fault committed in the direction of this course.| I could have spared myself all the trouble I had been in, if I had in time sailed close-hauled, in order to approach the coast of America, and so find the islands by their latitude.

The 23d the evening we entered and anchored in the great bay, where the two Spanish frigates likewise came to an anchor on the 24th. They had suffered greatly during their course; the storm on the 16th having obliged them to bear away; and the commodore-ship, having shipped a sea, which carried away her quarter-badges, broke through the windows of the great cabbin, and poured a great quantity of water into her. Almost all the cattle they took 35on board at Montevideo for the colony, died through the badness of the weather. The twenty-fifth the three vessels came into port, and moored.

The Spaniards take possession of our settlement at the Malouines.

April.

The first of April I delivered our settlement to the Spaniards, who took possession of it, by planting the Spanish colours, which were saluted at sun-rising and sun-setting from the shore and from the ships. I read the king’s letter to the French inhabitants of this infant colony, by which his majesty permits their remaining under the government of his most catholic majesty. Some families profited of this permission; the rest, with the garrison, embarked on board the Spanish frigates, which sailed for Montevideo the 27th in the morning^[16].

Historical details concerning the Malouines.

Some historical remarks concerning these isles, will, I hope, not be deemed unnecessary.

Americo Vespucci discovers them.

It appears to me, that the first discovery of them may be attributed to the celebrated Americo Vespucci, who, in the third voyage for the discovery of America, 36sailed along the northern coasts of them in 1502. It is true, he did not know whether it belonged to an isle, or whether it was part of the continent; but it is easy to conclude, from the course he took, from the latitudes he came to, and from the very description he gives of the coasts, that it is that of the Malouines. |French and English navigators visit them after him.| I shall assert with equal right, that Beauchesne Gouin, returning from the South Seas in 1700, anchored on the east side of the Malouines, thinking he was at the Sebald’s isles.

His account says, that after discovering the isle to which he gave his own name, he anchored on the east side of the most easterly of Sebald’s isles. I must first of all observe, that the Malouines, being in the middle between the Sebald’s isles and the isle of Beauchesne, have a considerable extent, and that he must have necessarily fallen in with the coast of the Malouines, as is impossible not to see them, when at anchor eastward of the Sebald’s isles. Besides, Beauchesne saw a single isle of an immense extent; and it was not till after he had cleared it, that he perceived two other little ones: he passed through a moist country, filled with marshes and fresh-water lakes, covered with wild-geese, teals, ducks, and snipes; he saw no woods there; all this agrees prodigiously well with the Malouines. Sebald’s isles, on the contrary, are four little 37rocky isles, where William Dampier, in 1683, attempted in vain to water, and could not find a good anchoring-ground.

Be this as it will, the Malouines have been but little known before our days—Most of the relations report them as isles covered with woods. Richard Hawkins, who came near the northern coast of them, which he called Hawkins’s Maiden-land, and who pretty well described them, asserts that they were inhabited, and pretends to have seen fires there. At the beginning of this century, the St. Louis, a ship from St. Malo, anchored on the south-east side, in a bad bay, under the shelter of some little isles, called the isles of Anican, after the name of the privateer; but he only stayed to water there, and continued his course, without caring to survey them.

The French settle there.

However, their happy position, to serve as a place of refreshment or shelter to ships going to the South-Seas, struck the navigators of all nations. In the beginning of the year 1763, the court of France resolved to form a settlement in these isles. I proposed to government, that I would establish it at my own expence, assisted by Messrs. de Nerville and d’Arboulin, one my cousin-german, the other my uncle. I immediately got the Eagle of twenty guns, and the Sphinx of twelve, constructed and furnished with proper necessaries 38for such an expedition, by the care of M. Duclos Guyot, now my second. I embarked several Acadian families, a laborious intelligent set of people, who ought to be dear to France, on account of the inviolable attachment they have shewn, as honest but unfortunate citizens.

The 15th of September I sailed from St. Malo. M. de Nerville was on board the Eagle with me. After touching twice, once at the isle of St. Catharine, on the coast of the Brasils, and once at Montevideo, where we took in many horses and horned cattle, we made the land of Sebald’s isles the 31st of January, 1764. I sailed into a great bay, formed by the coast of the Malouines, between its N. W. point, and Sebald’s isles; but not finding a good anchoring ground, sailed along the north coast; and, coming to the eastern extremity of these isles, I entered a great bay on the third of February, which seemed very convenient to me, for forming the first settlement.

Account of the manner in which it was made.

The same illusion which made Hawkins, Woods, Rogers, and others, believe that these isles were covered with wood, acted likewise upon my fellow voyagers. We were surprised, when we landed, to see that what we took for woods as we sailed along the coast, was nothing but bushes of a tall rush, standing very close together. The bottom of its stalks being dried, got 39the colour of a dead leaf to the height of about five feet; and from thence springs a tuft of rushes, which crown this stalk; so that at a distance these stalks together have the appearance of a wood of middling height. These rushes only grow near the sea side, and on little isles; the mountains on the main land are, in some parts, covered all over with heath, which are easily mistaken for bushes.

In the various excursions, which I immediately ordered, and partly made in the island myself, we did not find any kind of wood; nor could we discover that these parts had been frequented by any nation.

I only found, and in great quantity too, an exceeding good turf, which might supply the defect of wood, both for fuel, and for the forge; and I passed through immense plains, every where intersected by little rivulets, with very good water. Nature offered no other subsistence for men than fish and several sorts of land and water fowl. It was very singular, on our arrival, to see all the animals, which had hitherto been the only inhabitants of the island, come near us without fear, and shew no other emotions than those which curiosity inspires at the sight of an unknown object. The birds suffered themselves to be taken with the hand, and some would come and settle upon people that stood 40still; so true it is, that man does not bear a characteristic mark of ferocity, which mere instinct is capable of pointing out to these weak animals, the being that lives upon their blood. This confidence was not of long duration with them; for they soon learnt to mistrust their most cruel enemies.

First year.

The 17th of March, I fixed upon the place of the new colony, which at first was only composed of twenty-seven persons, among whom were five women, and three children. We set to work immediately to build them huts covered with rushes, to construct a magazine, and a little fort, in the middle of which a small obelisk was erected. The king’s effigy adorned one of its sides, and under its foundations we buried some coins, together with a medal, on one side of which was graved the date of the undertaking, and on the other the figure of the king, with these words for the exergue, “Tibi serviat ultima Thule.”^[17]

41However, to encourage the colonists, and encrease their reliance on speedy assistance, which I promised them, M. de Nerville consented to remain at their head, and to share the risks to which this weak settlement was exposed, at the extremity of the globe, where it was at that time the only one in such a high southern latitude. The fifth of April, 1764, I solemnly took possession of the isles in the king’s name, and the eighth I sailed for France.

Second year.

The fifth of January, 1765, I saw my colonists again, and found them healthy and content. After landing what I had brought to their assistance, I went into the straits of Magalhaens, to get a cargo of timber, palisadoes and young trees, and I began a navigation, which is become necessary to the colony. Then I found the ships of commodore Byron, who, after surveying the Malouines for the first time, passed the straits, in order to get into the South-seas. When I left the Malouines the 27th of April following, the colony consisted of twenty-four persons, including the officers.

In 1765 we sent back the Eagle to the Malouines, and the king sent the Etoile, one of his store ships, with her. These two vessels, after landing the provisions and new colonists, sailed together to take in wood in the straits of Magalhaens. The settlement now began 42to get a kind of form. The governor and the ordonnateur^[18] lodged in very convenient houses built of stone, and the other inhabitants lived in houses of which the walls were made of sods. There were three magazines, both for the public stores and those of private persons. The wood out of the straits had served to build several vessels, and to construct schooners for the purpose of surveying the coast. The Eagle returned to France from this last voyage, with a cargo of train oil and seals-skins, tanned in the island. Several, trials had been made towards cultivation, which gave no reason to despair of success, as the greatest part of the corn brought from Europe was easily naturalized to the country. The encrease of the cattle could be depended upon, and the number of inhabitants amounted then to about one hundred and fifty.

However, as I have just mentioned, commodore Byron came in January, 1765, to survey the Malouines. He touched to the westward of our settlement, in a port which we had already named Port de la Croisade, and he took possession of these islands for the crown of England, without leaving a single inhabitant there. It was not before 1766, that the English sent a colony to settle in Port de la Croisade, which they had named 43Port Egmont; and captain Macbride, of the Jason frigate, came to our settlement the same year, in the beginning of December. He pretended that these parts belonged to his Britannic majesty, threatened to land by force, if he should be any longer refused that liberty, visited the governor, and sailed away again the same day.

Such was the state of the Malouines, when we put them into the hands of the Spaniards, whose prior right was thus inforced by that which we possessed by making the first settlement^[19]. The account of the productions of these isles, and the animals which are to be found there, will furnish matter for the following chapter, and are the result of the observations of M. de Nerville, during a residence of three years. I believed 44it was so much more proper to enter upon this detail, as M. de Commerçon has not been at the Malouines, and as their natural history is in some regards important^[20].

CHAP. IV.

Detail of the natural history of the Isles Malouines.

A Country which has been but lately inhabited always offers interesting objects, even to those who are little versed in natural history; and though their remarks may not be looked upon as authorities, yet they may satisfy, in part, the curiosity of the investigators of the system of nature.

First aspect they bear.

The first time we landed upon these isles, no inviting objects came in sight, and, excepting the beauty of the port in which we lay, we knew not what could prevail upon us to stay on this apparently barren ground: the horizon terminated by bald mountains, the land lacerated by the sea, which seems to claim the empire over it; the fields bearing a dead aspect, for want of inhabitants; no woods to comfort those 45who intended to be the first settlers; a vast silence, now and then interrupted by the howls of marine monsters; and, lastly, the sad uniformity which reigned throughout; all these were discouraging objects, which seemed that in such dreary places nature would refuse assistance to the efforts of man. But time and experience taught us, that labour and constancy would not be without success even there. The resources with which nature presented us, were immense bays, sheltered from the violence of the winds by mountains, which poured forth cascades and rivulets; meadows covered with rich pastures, proper for the food of numerous flocks; lakes and pools to water them; no contests concerning the property of the place; no fierce, or poisonous, or importune animals to be dreaded; an innumerable quantity of the most useful amphibia; birds and fish of the best taste; a combustible substance to supply the defect of wood; plants known to be specifics against the diseases common to sea-faring men; a healthy and continually temperate climate, much more fit to make men healthy and robust, than those enchant-countries, where abundance itself becomes noxious, and heat causes a total inactivity. These advantages soon expunged the impressions which the first appearance had made, and justified the attempt.

46To this we may add, that the English in their relation of Port-Egmont, have not scrupled to say, that the countries adjacent furnished every thing necessary for a good settlement. Their taste for natural history will, without doubt, engage them to make and to publish enquiries which will rectify these.

Geographical position of the Malouines.

The Malouines are situated between 51° and 52° 30′ S. lat. and 65° 30′ W. long. from Paris; and between 80 and 90 leagues distant from the coast of America or Patagonia, and from the entrance of the straits of Magalhaens.

The map whichwhich we give of these islands, has certainly not a geographical accuracy, which must have been the work of many years. It may, however, serve to indicate nearly the extent of these isles from east to west, and from north to south; the position of the coasts, along which our ships have sailed; the figure and depth of the great bays, and the direction of the principal mountains^[21].

Of the harbours.

The harbours, which we have examined, are both extensive and secure; a tough ground, and islands happily situated to break the fury of the waves, contribute to make them safe and easily defensible; they have little 47creeks, in which the smallest vessels can retire. The rivulets come down into the sea; so that nothing can be more easy, than to take in the provision of fresh water.

Tides.

The tides are subject to all the emotions of the sea, which surrounds the isles, and have never risen at settled periods, which could have been calculated. It has only been observed, that, just before high-water, they have three determinate variations; the sea, at that time, in less than a quarter of an hour, rises and falls thrice, as if shaken up and down; and this motion is more violent during the solstices, the equinoxes, and the full moons.

Winds.

The winds are generally variable; but still those between north and west, and between south and west, are more prevalent than the others. In winter, when the winds are between north and west, the weather is foggy and rainy; if between west and south, they bring snow, hail, and hoar frost; if from between south and east, they are less attended with mists, but violent, though not quite so much as the summer winds, which blow between south-west and north-west: these latter, which clear the sky and dry the soil, do not begin to blow till the sun appears above the horizon; they encrease as that luminary rises; are at the greatest height when he crosses the meridian; and lose their force 48when he goes to disappear behind the mountains. Besides being regulated by the sun’s motion, they are likewise subject to be governed by the tides, which encrease their force, and sometimes alter their direction. Almost all the nights throughout the year are calm, fair, and star-light, especially in summer. The snow, which is brought by the south-west winds in winter, is inconsiderable; it lies about two months upon the tops of the highest mountains; and a day or two, at most, upon the surface of the other grounds. The rivers do not freeze, and the ice of lakes and pools has not been able to bear men upwards of twenty-four hours together. The hoar-frosts in spring and autumn do no damage to the plants, and at sun-rising are converted into dew. In summer, thunder is seldom heard; and, upon the whole, we felt neither great cold, nor great heat; and the distinction of seasons appeared almost insensible. In such a climate, where the revolutions of the seasons affect by no means the constitution, it is natural that men should be strong and healthy; and this has been experienced during a stay of three years.

Water.

The few mineral substances found at the Malouines, are a proof of the goodness of the water, which is every where conveniently situated; no noxious plants infect the places where it runs through; its bed is generally gravel or sand, and sometimes turf, which give 49it a little yellowish hue, without diminishing its goodness and lightness.

Soil.

All the plains have much more depth of soil than is necessary for the plough to go in. The soil is so much interwoven with roots of plants, to the depth of near twelve inches, that it was necessary, before it was possible to proceed to cultivation, to take off this crust or layer; and to cut it, that it might be dried and burnt. It is known, that this process is excellent to make the ground better, and we made use of it. Below this first layer, is a black mould, never less than eight or ten inches deep, and frequently much deeper; the next is the yellow, or original virgin-soil, whose depth is undeterminate. It rests upon strata of slate and stones; among which no calcareous ones have ever been found; as the trial has been made with aquafortis. It seems, that the isles are without stones of this kind. Journeys have been undertaken to the very tops of the mountains, in order to find some; but they have never procured any other than a kind of quartz, and a sandstone, not friable; which produced sparks, and even a kind of phosphorescent light, accompanied with a smell of brimstone. Stones proper for building are not wanting; for most of the coasts are formed of them. There are strata of a very hard and small grained stone; and likewise other strata, more or less sloping, which 50consist of slates; and of a kind of stone containing particles of talc. There are likewise stones, which divide into shivers; and on them we observed impressions of a kind of fossil shells, unknown in these seas; we made grind-stones of it to sharpen our tools. The stone taken out of the quarries was yellowish, and not yet come to a sufficient degree of hardness, as it could be cut with a knife; but it hardened in the air. Clay, sand, and earth, fit for making potters-ware and bricks, were easily found.

Turf and its qualities.

The turf, which is generally to be met with above the clay, goes up a great way in the country. From, whatever point one sets out, one could not go a league without meeting with considerable strata of it, always easy to be distinguished by the inequalities in the ground, by which some of its sides were discovered. It continually is formed from the remains of roots and plants in marshy places; which are always known by a sharp-pointed kind of rushes. This turf being taken in a bay, near our habitation, where it shews a surface of twelve feet high to the open air, gets a sufficient degree of dryness there. This was what we made use of; its smell was not disagreeable; it burnt well, and its cinders, or embers, were superior to those of sea-coals; because, by blowing them, it was as easy to light a candle as with burning coals; it was sufficient 51for all the works of the forge, excepting the joining of great pieces.

Plants.

All the sea-shores, and the inner parts of the isles are covered with a kind of gladiolus, or rather a species of gramen. It is of an excellent green, and is above six feet high, and serves for a retreat to seals and sea-lions: on our journies it sheltered us, as it did them. By its assistance we could take up our quarters in a moment. Its bent and united stalks, formed a thatch or roof, and its dry leaves a pretty good bed. It was likewise with this plant that we covered our houses; its stalk is sweet, nourishing, and preferred to all other food by the cattle.

Next to this great plant, the heath, the shrubs, and the gum-plant were the only objects that appeared in the fields. The other parts are covered by small plants, which, in moist ground, are more green and more substantial. The shrubs were of great use to us as fuel, and they were afterwards kept for heating the ovens, together with the heath; the red fruit of the latter attracted a great quantity of game in the season.

Resinous gum-plant.

The gum-plant, which is new and unknown in Europe, deserves a more ample description. It is of a bright green, and has nothing of the figure of a plant; one would sooner take it to be an excrescence of the earth of this colour; for it has neither stalk, branches, 52nor leaves—Its surface, which is convex, is of so close a texture, that nothing can be introduced between it, without tearing it. The first thing we did, was to sit down or stand upon it; it is not above a foot and a half high. It would bear us up as safely as a stone, without yielding under our weight. Its breadth is very disproportionate to its height; and I have seen some of more than six feet in diameter, without being any higher than common. Its circumference is regular only in the smaller plants, which are generally hemispherical; but when they are grown up, they are terminated by humps and cavities, without any regularity. In several parts of its surface, are drops of the size of pease, of a tough yellowish matter; which was at first called gum; but as it could not be dissolved, except by spirituous solvents, it was named a rosin. Its smell is strong, aromatic, and like that of turpentine. In order to know the inside of this plant, we cut it close to the ground, and turned it down. As we broke it, we saw that it comes from a stalk, whence an infinite number of concentric shoots arise, consisting of leaves like stars, enchased one within the other, by means of an axis common to all.

These shoots are white within, except at a little distance of the surface, where the air colours them green. When they are broken, a milky juice comes out in 53great abundance; which is more viscid than that of spurge^[22]. The stalk abounds with the juice, as do the roots, which extend horizontally; and often at some distance send forth new shoots, so that you never find one of these plants alone. It seems to like the sides of hills; and it thrives well in any exposure. It was not before the third year that we endeavoured to know its flower and seeds, both of which are very small, because we had been disappointed in our attempts to bring it over to Europe. At last, however, some seeds were brought, in order to endeavour to get possession of so singular and new a plant, which might even prove useful in physic; as its rosin had already been successfully applied to slight wounds by several sailors. One thing deserves to be observed, namely, that this plant loses its rosin by the air alone, and the washing of the rains. How can we make this agree with its quality of dissolving in spirits alone? In this state it was amazingly light, and would burn like straw.

Beer-plant.

After this extraordinary plant, we met with one of approved utility; it forms a little shrub, and sometimes creeps under the plants, and along the coast. We accidentally tasted it, and found it had a spruce taste, which put us in mind of trying to make beer of it; we had brought a quantity of melasses and malt with 54us; the trials we made, answered beyond expectation; and the settlers being once instructed in the process, never were in want of this liquor afterwards, which was anti-scorbutic, by the nature of the plant; it was with good success employed in baths, which were made for sick persons, who came from the sea. Its leaves are small and dentated, and of a bright green. When it is crushed between the fingers, it is reduced into a kind of meal, which is somewhat glutinous, and has an aromatic smell.

A kind of celery or wild parsley, in great quantities; abundance of sorrel, water-cresses, and a kind of maiden-hair^[23], with undated leaves, furnished as much as could be required against the scurvy, together with the above plant.

Fruits.

Two small fruits, one of which is unknown, and looks like a mulberry, the other no bigger than a pea, and called lucet, on account of the similarity it bears to that which is found in North-America, were the only ones which were to be had in autumn. Those which grew upon the bushes were good for nothing, excepting for children, who will eat the worst of fruits, and for wild-fowl. The plant on which the fruit, which we called mulberry, grew, is creeping; its leaf resembles that of the hornbeam; its branches are long, and it is propagated like the strawberry.

55The lucet is likewise a creeping plant, bearing the fruit all along its branches, which are beset with little shining round leaves, of the colour of myrtle leaves; their fruits are white, and coloured red on that side which is turned towards the sun; they have an aromatic taste, and smell like orange-blossoms, as do the leaves, of which the infusion drank with milk is very pleasant to the taste. This plant is hidden among the grass, and prefers a wet soil: a prodigious quantity of it grows in the neighbourhood of lakes.

Flowers.

Among several other plants, which we found superfluous to examine, there were many flowers, but all without smell, one excepted, which is white, and has the smell of the tuberose. We likewise found a true violet, as yellow as a jonquil. It is worth notice that we have never found any bulbous-rooted plant. Another singularity is, that in the southern part of the isle we inhabited, beyond a chain of hills which divides it from east to west, it appeared that there were hardly any of the resinous gum-plants, and that in their stead we found abundance of another plant of the same form, but of a different green, wanting the solidity of the other, and not producing any rosin, but only fine yellow flowers in the proper season. This plant, which was easily opened, consisted as the other, of shoots which all spring from the same stalk, and terminate 56at its surface. Coming back over the hills, we found a tall species of maiden hair; its leaves are not waved, but in the form of sword blades. From the plant arise two principal stalks, which bear their seeds on the underside, like the other species of maiden hair. There were likewise a great quantity of friable plants growing upon stones, they seemed to partake of the nature of stone, and of vegetables; they were thought to be species of lichen, but the ascertaining whether they would be of use in dying, was put off to another time.

Sea plants.

As to the submarine plants, they were more inconvenient than of any use. The whole harbour is covered with sea weeds, especially near the shore, by which means the boats found it difficult to land; they are of no other service than to break the force of the waters when the sea runs very high. We hoped to make a good use of them by employing them for a manure. The tides brought us several species of coralines, which were very much varied, and of the finest colours; these, together with the spunges and shells, have deserved places in the cabinets of the curious. All the spunges have the figure of plants, and are branched in so many different ways, that we could hardly believe them to be the work of marine insects. Their texture is so compact, and their fibres so delicate, that it is inconceivable how these animals can lodge in them.

57The coasts of the Malouines have provided the collections in Europe with several new shells; the most curious of which, is that called la poulette. There are three sorts of this bivalve; and among them the striated one had never before been seen, except in the fossil state; this may prove the assertion, that the fossil-shells, found much below the level of the sea, are not lusus naturæ, and accidentally formed; but that they have really been inhabited by living animals, at the time when the land was covered by the water. Along with this shell, which is very common here, there are limpets^[24]; esteemed on account of their fine colours; whelks^[25], of several kinds; scallops^[26]; great striated and smooth muscle-shells^[27], and the finest mother of pearl.

Animals.

There is only a single species of quadruped upon these islands; it is a medium between the wolf and the fox. The land and water-fowls are innumerable. The sea-lions and seals are the only amphibia. All the coasts abound with fish, most of them little known. The whales keep in the open sea; some of them happen now and then to be stranded in the bays, and their remains are sometimes seen there. Some other bones of an enormous size, a good way up in the country, whither the force of the waves could never 58carry them, prove that either the sea is diminished, or that the soil is encreased.

The wolf-fox, (loup-renard) thus called, on account of its digging a kennel under ground, and having a more bushy tail than a wolf, lives upon the downs along the sea-shore. It attacks the wild fowls; and makes its roads from one bay to another, with so much sagacity, that they are always the shortest that can be devised; and, at our first landing on the isle, we had almost no doubt of their being the paths of inhabitants. It seems this animal fasts during a time of the year; for it is then vastly lean. Its size and make is that of a common shepherd’s dog; and it barks in the same manner, though not so loud. In what manner can it have been transported to these islands^[28]?

The birds and fish have enemies, which endanger their tranquility. These enemies of the birds are the above kind of wolf, which destroys many of their eggs and young ones; the eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls.

The fish are still worse used; without mentioning the whales, which feeding, as is well known, upon fry only, 59destroy prodigious numbers; they are likewise exposed to the amphibious creatures, and to birds; some of which are always watching on the rocks, whilst others constantly skim along the surface of the sea.

It would require a great deal of time, and the eyes of an able naturalist, in order to describe the following animals well. I shall here give the most essential observations, and extend them only to such animals as were of some utility.

Web-footed birds.

Among the web-footed birds, the swan is the first in order; it only differs from the European one by its neck; which is of a velvet black, and makes an admirable contrast with the whiteness of the rest of its body; its feet are flesh-coloured. This kind of swan is likewise to be found in Rio de la Plata, and in the straits of Magalhaens.

Four species of wild-geese made part of our greatest riches. The first only feeds on dry land; and has, improperly, been called bustard^[29]. Its high legs serve to elevate it above the tall grass, and its long neck to observe any danger. It walks and flies with great ease; and has not that disagreeable cackling cry, peculiar to the rest of its kind. The plumage of the male is white, 60mixed with black and ash-colour on the wings. The female is yellow; and its wings are adorned with changing colours; it generally lays six eggs. Its flesh is wholesome, nourishing, and palatable; it seldom happened that we had any scarcity of this kind of geese; for, besides these which are bred in the isle, they come in great flocks in autumn, with the east wind, probably from some uninhabited country. The sportsmen easily distinguish these new-comers, by the little fear they shew of men. The other three species are not so much in request; for they feed on fish, and get a trainy taste. Their figure is not so elegant as that of the first species; one of these kinds seldom rises above the water, and is very noisy. The colours of their feathers are chiefly white, black, yellow, and ash-colour. All these species, and likewise the swan, have a soft down under the feathers; which is white or grey, and very thick.

Two kinds of ducks, and two of teals, frequent the ponds and rivers. The former are but little different from those of our climate; some of those which we killed, were quite black, and others quite white. As to the teals, the one has a blue bill, and is of the size of the ducks; the other is much less. Some of them had the feathers on the belly of a flesh colour. These species are in great plenty, and of an excellent taste.

61Here are two kinds of Divers, of a small size. One of them has a grey back, and white belly; the feathers on the belly are so silky, shining, and close, that we imagined these were the birds, of whose plumage the fine muffs are made: this species is here scarce^[30]. The other, which is more common, is quite brown, but somewhat paler on the belly than on the back. The eyes of these creatures are like rubies. Their surprising liveliness is heightened and set off still more by the circle of white feathers that surrounds them; and has caused the name of Diver with Spectacles to be given to the bird. They breed two young ones at a time, which are probably too tender to suffer the coldness of the water, whilst they have nothing but their down; for then the mother conveys them on her back^[31]. These two species have not webbed feet, as the other water-fowl; but their toes are separate, with a strong membrane on each side; in this manner, each toe resembles a leaf, which is roundish towards the claw; and the lines, which run from the toe to the circumference of the membrane, together with its green-colour and thinness, increase the resemblance.

62Two species of birds, which were called by our people saw-bills^[32], I know not for what reason, only differed from each other in size, and sometimes because there were now and then some with brown bellies; whereas, the general colour of that part, in other birds of the kind, was white. The rest of the feathers are of a very dark blueish-black; in consequence of their shape, and the close texture and silkiness of their vent feathers, we must rank them with the divers, though I cannot be positive in this respect. They have a pointed bill, and the feet webbed without any separation between the toes; the first toe, being the longest of the three, and the membrane which joins them, ending in nothing at the third toe, gives a very remarkable character. Their feet are flesh-coloured^[33]. These birds destroy numbers of fish; they place themselves upon the rocks, join together by numerous families, and lay their eggs there. As their flesh is very good to eat, we killed two or three hundred of them at a time; and the abundance of their eggs offered another resource to supply our wants. They were so little afraid of our sportsmen, that it was sufficient to go against them with no better arms than sticks. Their enemy is a bird of prey, with webbed feet; measuring near seven feet from tip to tip, and having a 63long and strong bill, distinguished by two tubes of the same substance as the bill itself, which are hollow throughout. This is the bird which the Spaniards call Quebrantahuessos^[34].

A great quantity of mews, variously and prettily marked, of gulls and of terns, almost all of them grey, and living in families, come skimming along the water, and fall upon the fish with extraordinary quickness; they were so far of use to us, that they shewed us the proper season of catching pilchards; they held them suspended in the air for a moment only, and then presently gave back entire, the fish they had swallowed just before. At other seasons they feed upon a little fish, called gradeau, and some other small fry. They lay their eggs in great quantities round the marshes, on some green plants, pretty like the water lily^[35], and they were very wholesome food.

We found three species of penguins: the first of them is remarkable on account of its shape, and the beauty of its plumage, and does not live in families as the 64second species, which is the same with that described in Lord Anson’s Voyage^[36]. The penguin of the first class is fond of solitude and retired places. It has a peculiar noble and magnificent appearance, having an easy gait, a long neck when singing or crying, a longer and more elegant bill than the second sort, the back of a more blueish cast, the belly of a dazzling white, and a kind of palatine or necklace of a bright yellow, which comes down on both sides of the head, as a boundary between the blue and the white, and joins on the belly^[37]. We hoped to be able to bring one of them over to Europe. It was easily tamed so far as to follow and know the person that had the care of feeding it: flesh, fish, and bread, were its food; but we perceived that this food was not sufficient, and that it absorbed the fatness of the bird; accordingly, when the bird was grown lean to a certain degree, it died. The third sort of penguins live in great flocks or families like the second; they inhabit the high cliffs, where we found the saw-bills (becs-scies), and they lay their eggs there. Their distinguishing characters are, the smallness of their size, their dark yellow colour, a tuft of gold-yellow feathers, which are shorter than those of the 65egret^[38], and which they raise when provoked, and lastly, some other feathers of the same colour, which stand in the place of eye-brows; our people called them hopping penguins, because they chiefly advance by hopping and flapping. This species carries greater air of liveliness in its countenance than the two others^[39].

Three species of petrels, (alcyons) which appear but seldom, did not forebode any tempests, as those do which are seen at sea. They are however the same birds, as our sailors affirmed, and the least species has all the characters of it. Though this may be the true alcyons^[40], yet so much is certain, that they build their nests on shore, whence we have had their young ones covered only with down, but perfectly like their parents in other respects. The second sort only differs from them in size, being somewhat less than a pigeon. These two species are black, with some white feathers on the belly^[41]. The third sort was at first 66called white-pigeon, on account of its feathers being all of that colour, and its bill being red: there is reason to suppose it is a true white alcyon, on account of its conformity with the other species.

Birds with cloven feet.

Three sorts of eagles, of which the strongest have a dirty white, and the others a black plumage, with yellow and white feet, attack the snipes and little birds; neither their size nor the strength of their claws allowing them to fall upon others. A number of sparrow hawks and falcons, together with some owls, are the other enemies of the fowl. Their plumage is rich, and much varied in colour.

The snipes are the same as the European ones; they do not fly irregularly when they rise, and are easy to be shot. In the breeding season they soar to a prodigious height; and after singing and discovering their nest, which they form without precaution in the midst of the fields, on spots where hardly any plants grow, they fall down upon it from the height they had risen to before; at this season they are poor; the best time for eating them is in autumn.

In summer we saw many curlews, which were not at all different from ours.

Throughout the whole year we saw a bird pretty like a curlew on the sea-side; it was called a sea-pie^[42], 67on account of its black and white plumage; its other characteristics are, a bill of the colour of red coral, and white feet. It hardly ever leaves the rocks, which are dry at low water, and lives upon little shrimps. It makes a whistling noise, easy to be imitated, which proved useful to our sportsmen, and pernicious to the bird.

Egrets are pretty common here; at first we took them for common herons, not knowing the value of their plumes. These birds begin to feed towards night; they have a harsh barking noise, which we often took for the noise of the wolf we have mentioned before.

Two sorts of stares or thrushes came to us every autumn; a third species remained here constantly, it was called the red bird^[43]; its belly is quite covered with feathers of a beautiful fiery red, especially during winter; they might be collected, and would make very rich tippets. One of the two remaining species is yellow, with black spots on the belly, the other has the colour of our common thrushes. I shall not give any particular account of an infinite number of little birds, that are pretty like those seen in the maritime provinces of France.

Amphibious creatures.

68The sea-lions and seals are already known; these animals occupy the sea-shore, and lodge, as I have before mentioned, among the tall plants, called gladioli^[44]. They go up a league into the country in innumerable herds, in order to enjoy the fresh herbs, and to bask in the sun. It seems the sea-lion described in Lord Anson’s Voyage ought, on account of its snout, to be looked upon as a kind of marine elephant, especially as he has no mane; is of an amazing size, being sometimes twenty-two feet long, and as there is another species much inferior in size, without any snout, and having a mane of longer hairs than those on the rest of the body, which therefore should be considered as the true sea-lion^[45]. The seal (loup marin) has neither mane nor snout; thus all the three species are easily distinguished. Under the hair of all these creatures, there is no such down as is found in those caught in North America and Rio de la Plata. Their grease or train oil, and their skins, might form a branch of commerce.

Fish.

We have not found a great variety of species of fish. That sort which we caught most frequently, we called 69mullet^[46], to which it bears some resemblance. Some of them were three feet long, and our people dried them. The fish called gradeau is very common, and sometimes found above a foot long. The sardine only comes in the beginning of winter. The mullets being pursued by the seals, dig holes in the slimy ground, on the banks of the rivulets, where they take shelter, and we took them without difficulty, by taking off the layer of mud that covered their retreats. Besides these species, a number of other very small ones were taken with a hook and line, and among them was one which was called a transparent pike^[47]. Its head is shaped like that of our pike, the body without scales, and perfectly diaphanous. There are likewise some congers on the rocks, and the white porpesse, called la taupe, or the mole, appears in the bays during the fine season. If we had had time, and men enough to spare, for the fishery at sea, we should have found many other fish, and certainly some soals, of which a few have been found, thrown upon the sands. Only a single sort of fresh water fish, without scales, has been taken; it is of a green colour, and of the size of a common trout^[48]. It is true, we have made but few researches in this particular, 70we had but little time; and other fish in abundance.

Crustaceous fish.

Here have been found only three small sorts of crustacea; viz. the cray-fish, which is red, even before it is boiled, and is properly a prawn; the crab, with blue feet, resembling pretty much that called tourelourou, and a minute species of shrimp. These three crustacea, and all muscles, and other shell fish, were only picked up for curiosity’s sake, for they have not so good a taste as those in France.——This land seems to be entirely deprived of oysters.

Lastly, by way of forming a comparison with some cultivated isle in Europe, I shall quote what Puffendorf says of Ireland, which is situated nearly in the same latitude in the northern hemisphere, as the Malouines in the southern one, viz. “that this island is pleasant on account of the healthiness and serenity of the air, and because heat and cold are never excessive there. The land being well divided by lakes and rivers, offers great plains, covered with excellent pasture, has no venemous creatures, its lakes and rivers abound with fish, &c.” See the Universal History.

71

CHAP. V.

Navigation from the Malouines to Rio-Janeiro; junction of the Boudeuse with the Etoile.—Hostilities of the Portuguese against the Spaniards. Revenues of the king of Portugal from Rio-Janeiro.

1767. June. Departure from the Malouines for Rio-Janeiro.

I waited, in vain, for the Etoile, at the Malouines; the months of March and April had passed, and that store-ship did not arrive. I could not attempt to traverse the Pacific Ocean with my frigate alone; as she had no more room than what would hold six months provision for the crew. I still waited for the store-ship, during May. Then seeing that I had only two months provisions, I left the Malouines the second of June, in order to go to Rio-Janeiro; which I had pointed out as a rendezvous to M. de la Giraudais, commander of the Etoile, in case some circumstances should prevent his coming to join me at the Malouines.

During this navigation, we had very fair weather. The 20th of June, in the afternoon, we saw the high head-lands of the Brasils; and, on the 21st, we discovered the entrance of Rio-Janeiro. Along the coast we saw several fishing-boats. I ordered Portuguese colours to be hoisted, and fired a cannon: upon this signal one of 72the boats came on board, and I took a pilot to bring us into the road. He made us run along the coast, within half a league of the isles which lie along it. We found many shoals every where. The coast is high, hilly, and woody; it is divided into little detached and perpendicular hillocks, which vary their prospect. At half an hour past five, in the afternoon, we were got within the fort of Santa-Cruz; from whence we were hailed; and at the same time a Portugueze officer came on board, to ask the reason of our entering into port. I sent the chevalier Bournand with him, to inform the count d’ Acunha, viceroy of the Brasils, of it, and to treat about the salute. At half an hour past seven, we anchored in the road, in eight fathoms water, and black muddy bottom.

Discussion concerning the salute.

The chevalier de Bournand returned soon after; and told me, that, concerning the salute, the count d’ Acunha had answered him, that if a person, meeting another in a street, took off his hat to him, he did not before inform himself, whether or no this civility would be returned; that if we saluted the place, he would consider what he should do. As this answer was not a sufficient one, I did not salute. |Junction with the Etoile.| I heard at the same time, by means of a canoe, which M. de la Giraudais sent to me, that he was in this port; that his departure from Rochefort, which should have been in December, 73had been retarded till the beginning of February; that after three months sailing, the water which his ship made, and the bad condition of her rigging, had forced him to put in at Montevideo, where he had received information concerning my voyage, by means of the Spanish frigates returning from the Malouines; and he had immediately set sail for Rio-Janeiro, where he had been at anchor for six days.