Defeada. The Master said he went up it four miles in a boat, and could not then be above four miles from the Western Ocean, yet he ftill faw a wide entrance to the S. W. The landing is every where good, there is plenty of wood and water, and muscles and wild geefe in abundance.

From the north fhore of the western end of the Streight of Magellan, which lies in about latitude 52°

S. to latitude 48°, the land which is the western coast of Patagonia, runs nearly north and fouth, and confifts wholly of broken iflands, among which are those that Sharp has laid down by the name of the Duke of York's Iflands; he has indeed placed them at a confiderable diftance from the coaft, but if there had been many islands in that fituation, it is impoffible but that the Dolphin, the Tamar, or the Swallow, muft have feen them, as we ran near their fuppofed meridian, and fo did the Dolphin and the Tamar the laft voyage. Till we came into this latitude, we had tolerable weather, and little or no current in any direction, but when we came to the northward of 48°, we found a current setting strongly to the north, fo that probably we then opened the great bay, which is faid to be ninety leagues deep. We found here a vaft fwell from the N. W. and the winds generally blew from the fame quarter; yet we were fet every day twelve or fifteen miles to the northward of our account.

1767.

April.

On Wednesday, the 15th, at about four o'clock in Wednef. 15. the morning, after furmounting many dangers and difficulties, we once more got a-breast of Cape Pillar, with a light breeze at S. E. and a great fwell. Between five and fix o'clock, juft as we opened Cape Defeada, the wind fuddenly fhifted to S. and S. by W, and blew fo hard that it was with great difficulty we could carry the reefed top-fails: the fudden changing of the wind, and its exceffive violence, produced a fea fo dreadfully hollow, that great quantities of water were thrown in upon our deck, fo that we were in the ut most danger of foundering; yet we did not dare to fhorten fail, it being neceffary to carry all we could fpread, in order to weather the rocky iflands, which Sir John Narborough has called the Iflands of Direction, for we could not now run back again into the Streight,

1767. Streight, without falling down among the broken land, April. and incurring the dangers of the northern fhore, which was to leeward; towards this broken land, however, and lee fhore, the ship fettled very faft, notwithstanding our utmost efforts: in this preffing emergency we were obliged to fstave all the water cafks upon the deck, and between decks, to clear the veffel, and to make her carry better fail, and at length happily escaped the danger which threatened us. After we got clear of thefe iflands, and drew off from the Streight's mouth and the land, we found the fea run more regularly from the S. W. and the wind foon after coming from S. S. W. to S. S. E. we had by noon got a pretty good offing, about nine leagues from Cape Victory, which is on the north shore. Thus we cleared the weftern entrance of this Streight, which, in my opinion, is too dangerous for navigation; a deliverance which happened in the very crifis of our fate, for almost immediately afterwards the wind came again to the S. W. and if it had continued in that quarter, our destruction would have been inevitable.

Thurf. 16.

CHA P. II.

The Paffage from Cape Pillar, at the Western Entrance of the Streights of Magellan, to Mafafuerò; with fome Account of that Ifland.

I

TOOK my departure from Cape Pillar, which I make to lie in the latitude of 520 45' S. and in the longitude 75° 10' W. of the meridian of London, and as foon as I got clear of the Streight, steered to the northward along the coaft of Chili. Upon examining what quantity of fresh water we had now on board, I found that it amounted only to between four and five and twenty tons, which I thought not sufficient for fo long a voyage as was probably before us; I therefore hauled to the northward, intending to make the island of Juan Fernandes, or Mafafuero, that we might increase our stock before we failed to the weftward.

In the middle of the night of the 16th, we had the wind firft to the S. S. E. and then to the S. E. with which we kept away N. W. and N. N. W. in high

fpirits,

1767.

April.

fpirits, hoping that in a short time we should be in a more temperate climate: we had the misfortune, however, very foon to find ourselves difappointed, for on the 18th, the wind came to the N. N. W. and blew Satur. 18. directly from the point upon which we were steering. We had now got about an hundred leagues from the Streight's mouth; our latitude was 48° 39'S. and we were, by account, 4° 33′ W. of Cape Pillar; but from this time till the 8th of May, the wind continued unfavourable, and blew a continued ftorm, with fudden gufts ftill more violent, and much rain and hail, or rather fragments of half melted ice: at intervals also we had thunder and lightning, more dreadful than all the past, and a fea which frequently laid the whole veffel under water.

From the time of our clearing the Streight, and during our paffage along this coaft, we faw a great number of fea birds, particularly albatroffes, gannets, fheer-waters, and a thick lumpifh bird, about as big as a large pigeon, which the failors call a Cape of Good Hope hen: they are of a dark brown or blackish colour, and are therefore fometimes called the black gull: we faw alfo a great many pintado birds, of nearly the fame fize, which are prettily fpotted: with black and white, and conftantly on the wing, though they frequently appear as if they were walking upon the water, like the peterels, to which failors have given the name of Mother Carey's Chickens ; and we saw alfo many of these.

In the evening of Monday the 27th, which was very Mond. 27. dark, as we were standing to the westward under our courses, and a clofe reefed top-fail, the wind, in a hard fquall, fuddenly fhifted, and took the veffel right ahead; the violent jerk with which the fails were inftantly thrown a-back, was very near carrying the masts away by the board, and overfetting the fhip: the fails being at this time extremely wet, and the gale in the highest degree violent, they clung so fast to the mastз and rigging, that it was fcarcely poffible to get them either up or down; yet by the dexterous activity of our people, we got the main-fail up, clewed up main top-fail, and got the fhip's head round without receiving much damage. The violence of the wind continued

· VOL. I.

S

the

1767. April.

Wed. 29.

May. Friday 1.

continued feveral hours, but before morning it veered again to the N. W. and continued in that quarter till the afternoon of the 29th, when it died away, and we had a dead calm for fix hours. During this time we had a high fea, which ran in great confufion from all quarters, and broke against the ship in a strange manner, making her roll with fo violent and fudden a motion, that I expected every moment to lose our masts. The wind afterwards fprung up at W. S. W. which was fair, and we carried all the fail we could fet to make the most of it. It blew very hard in this direction, with heavy rain for a few hours, but by noon on Thurf. 30. the 30th, it returned to its ufual quarter, the. N. W. and was fo violent as to bring us again under our courses, there being at the same time a prodigious swell, which frequently broke over us. At five o'clock the next morning, as we were lying to under the reefed main-fail and balanced mizen, a vast sea broke over the quarter where the fhip's oars were lafhed, and carried away fix of them, with the weather-cloth; it alto broke the mizen gaff close where the fail was reefed, and the iron ftrap of one of the main dead eyes, laying. the whole veffel for fome time under water; we were: however fortunate enough to haul up the main-fail without splitting, though it blew a hurricane, and a deluge of rain, or rather of half melted ice, at the fame time poured down upon us. The wind foon after fhifted again from N. W. to S. W. and for about an hour blew, if poffible, ftronger than ever. This wind made the fhip come up with her head right against the vaft fea which the north west wind had raifed, and at every pitch which she made against it, the end of the bowfprit was under water, and the furge broke over the forecastle as far aft as the main-maft, in the fame manuer as it would have broke over a rock, fo that there was the greatest reason to apprehend the would founder. With all her defects fhe was indeed a good fea boat, and if she had not, it would have been im poffible for her to have outlived this ftorm, in which,. as well as the feveral other occafions, we experienced the benefits of the bulk-heads which we had fixed on the fore-part of the half deck, and to the after part of the forecastle,

Notwith

Notwithstanding this wind was fair, we durft not venture to put the fhip before it, for if in wearing, any of these enormous feas had broken on her fide, it would inevitably have carried away all before it. After fome time, however, it became more moderate, and we then got up our yards and made fail, fteering N. by W. and now the men having been up all night, and being wet to the skin, I ordered every one of them a dram.

1767.

May.

By the next morning, the 2d of May, the wind came Saturd. 2. again to the N. W. and the N. N. W. but by this time we had got down the broken mizen gaff, repaired it as well as we could, got it up again in its place, and bent the fail to it; but we now most fenfibly felt the want of a forge and iron.

On the 3d, at day-break, we found the rudder- Sunday 3. chain broken, and upon this occafion we again moft feelingly regretted the want of a forge; we made, however, the best shift we could, and the next day, the Monday 4. weather being more moderate, though the wind was ftill contrary, we repaired our rigging, and the carpenters fixed a new dead eye where the old one had been broken; the Sail-maker alfo was bufy in mending the fails that had been split.

On the 5th, we were again brought under our Tues. 5. courfes by a hurricane from the N. by W. and N. N. W. and the fhp was toffed about with fuch violence that we had no command of her. During this storm, two of our chain-plates were broken, and we continued toiling in a confufed hollow fea till midnight, when a light gale fprung up at N. W. which foon blew very hard; but at two in the morning, we were again taken Wednes. right a-head by a fudden and violent fqual at weft, which at once threw all our fails a-back, and before could get the fhip round, was very near carrying all by the board. With this gale we ftood north, and in the forenoon the carpenters fixed new chain-plates to the main fhrouds, and one to the fore shrouds, in the place of those which had been broken in the fquall during the night. This was another occasion on which it was impoffible not to regret the want of a forge and iron.

we

The gale continued in this direction till eight in the Thurf. 7. morning of the 7th, when it returned to the N. W.

$ 2

with