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after, or about 10 o'clock, the Pearl and the Trial being ordered to keep ahead of the squadron, we entered them with fair weather and a brisk gale, and were hurried through by the rapidity of the tide in about two hours though they are between seven and eight leagues in length. As these Straits are often considered as the boundary between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and as we presumed we had nothing now before us but an open sea, till we arrived on those opulent coasts where all our hopes and wishes centred, we could not help flattering ourselves that the greatest difficulty of our passage was now at an end, and that our most sanguine dreams were upon the point of being realised; and hence we indulged our imaginations in those romantic schemes which the fancied possession of the Chilian gold and Peruvian silver might be conceived to inspire. These joyous ideas were heightened by the brightness of the sky, and the serenity of the weather, which was indeed most remarkably pleasing; for though the winter was now advancing apace, yet the morning of this day, in its brilliancy and mildness, gave place to none we had seen since our departure from England. Thus animated by these delusions, we traversed these memorable Straits, ignorant of the dreadful calamities that were then impending, and just ready to break upon us; ignorant that the time drew near when the squadron would be separated never to unite again; and that this day of our passage was the last cheerful day that the greatest part of us would ever live to enjoy.

CHAPTER VIII.

WE had scarcely reached the southern extremity of the Straits of Le Maire, when our flattering hopes were instantly lost in the apprehensions of immediate destruction. For before the sternmost ships of the squad

n were clear of the Straits, the

serenity of the sky was suddenly changed, and gave us all the presages of an impending storm; and immediately the wind shifted to the southward, and blew in such violent squalls, that we were obliged to hand our topsails and reef our mainsail. The tide, too, which had hitherto favoured us, now turned against us,1 and drove us to the eastward with prodigious rapidity, so that we were in great anxiety for the Wager and the Anna pink, the two sternmost vessels, fearing they would be dashed to pieces against the shore of Staten Land. Nor were our apprehensions without foundation, for it was with the utmost difficulty they escaped. And now the whole squadron, instead of pursuing their intended course to the SW., were driven to the eastward by the united force of the storm and of the currents; so that next day in the morning we found ourselves near seven leagues to the eastward of Staten Land, which then bore from us NW. The violence of the current, which had set us with so much precipitation to the eastward, together with the force and constancy of the westerly winds, soon taught us to consider the doubling of Cape Horn as an enterprise that might prove too mighty for our efforts; though some amongst us had lately treated the difficulties which former voyagers were said to have met with in this undertaking as little better than chimerical, and had supposed them to arise rather from timidity and unskilfulness than from the real embarrassments of the winds and seas. But we were severely convinced that these censures were rash and ill-grounded: for the distresses with which we struggled during the three succeeding months will not easily be paralleled in the relation of any former naval expedition. This will, I doubt not, be readily allowed by those who shall carefully peruse the ensuing narration.

From the storm which came on before we had well got clear of Straits Le Maire, we had a continual succes

1 Ed. 1776: "Turned furiously ad

verse.

"

1741.]

A VIOLENT STORM.

sion of such tempestuous weather as surprised the oldest and most experienced mariners on board, and obliged them to confess, that what they had hitherto called storms were inconsiderable gales compared with the violence of these winds, which raised such short and at the same time such mountainous waves as greatly surpassed in danger all seas known in any other part of the globe. And it was not without great reason that this unusual appearance filled us with continual terror; for had any one of these waves broke fairly over us, it must in all probability have sent us to the bottom. Nor did we escape with terror only; for the ship, rolling incessantly gunwale-to, gave us such quick and violent motions, that the men were in perpetual danger of being dashed to pieces against the decks or sides of the ship. And though we were extremely careful to secure ourselves from these shocks by grasping some fixed body, yet many of our people were forced from their hold, some of whom were killed, and others greatly injured; in particular, one of our best seamen was canted overboard and drowned, another dislocated his neck, a third was thrown into the mainhold and broke his thigh, and one of our boatswain's mates broke his collar-bone twice; not to mention many other accidents of the same kind.

It was on the 7th of March, as has been already observed, that we passed Straits Le Maire, and were immediately afterwards driven to the eastward by a violent storm and the force of the current which set that way. For the four or five succeeding days we had hard gales of wind from the same quarter, with a most prodigious swell; so that though we stood, during all that time, towards the SW., yet we had no reason to imagine we had made any way to the westward. In this interval we had frequent squalls of rain and snow, and shipped great quantities of water; after which for three or four days, though the seas ran mountains high, yet the weather was rather more moderate. But, on

the 18th, we had again strong gales
of wind with extreme cold, and at
midnight the main-topsail split, and
one of the straps of the main dead-
eyes broke. From hence to the 23d
the weather was more favourable,
though often intermixed with rain
and sleet, and some hard gales: but
as the waves did not subside, the ship,
by labouring in this lofty sea, was now
grown so loose in her upper works
that she let in the water at every
seam; so that every part within board
was constantly exposed to the sea-
water, and scarcely any of the officers
ever lay in dry beds. Indeed it was
very rare that two nights ever passed
without many of them being driven
from their beds by the deluge of water
that came upon them.

On the 23d we had a most violent
storm of wind, hail, and rain, with a
very great sea; and though we handed
the main-topsail before the height of
the squall, yet we found the yard
sprung; and soon after, the foot-rope
of the mainsail breaking, the mainsail
itself split instantly to rags, and in
spite of our endeavours to save it,
much the greater part of it was blown
overboard. On this the Commodore
made the signal for the squadron to
bring to; and, the storm at length
flattening to a calm, we had an oppor-
tunity of getting down our main-top-
sail yard to put the carpenters at work
upon it, and of repairing our rigging;
after which, having bent a new main-
sail, we got under sail again with a
But in less than
moderate breeze.
twenty-four hours we were attacked by
another storm still more furious than
the former; for it proved a perfect hur-
ricane, and reduced us to the necessity
of lying to under our bare poles. As
our ship kept the wind better than any
of the rest, we were obliged in the
afternoon to wear ship, in order to
join the squadron to the leeward,
which otherwise we should have been
in danger of losing in the night; and
as we dared not venture any sail
abroad, we were obliged to make use
of an expedient which answered our
purpose; this was putting the helm a-
weather, and manning the fore-shrouds.

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But though this method proved successful for the end intended, yet in the execution of it one of our ablest seamen was canted overboard; and notwithstanding the prodigious agitation of the waves, we perceived that he swam very strong, and it was with the utmost concern that we found ourselves incapable of assisting him; and we were the more grieved at his unhappy fate, since we lost sight of him struggling with the waves, and conceived from the manner in which he swam that he might continue sensible for a considerable time longer of the horror attending his irretrievable situation.1

Before this last-mentioned storm was quite abated, we found two of our main shrouds and one mizzen-shroud broken, all which we knotted and set up immediately; and from hence we had an interval of three or four days less tempestuous than usual, but accompanied with a thick fog, in which we were obliged to fire guns almost every half hour, to keep our squadron together. On the 31st we were alarmed by a gun fired from the Gloucester, and a signal made by her to speak with the Commodore. We immediately bore down to her, and were prepared to hear of some terrible disaster; but we were apprised of it before we joined her, for we saw that her mainyard was broke in the slings. This was a grievous misfortune to us all at this juncture; as it was obvious it would prove an hindrance to our sailing, and would detain us the longer in these inhospitable latitudes. But our future success and safety were not to be promoted by repining, but by resolution and activity; and therefore, that this unlucky incident might delay us as little as possible, the Commodore

1 With reference to this affecting circumstance, Cowper composed his verses on "The Castaway." One is

as follows:

"He long survives, who lives an hour
In ocean, self-upheld:
And so long he, with unspent power,
His destiny repell'd:

And ever, as the minutes flew,
Entreated help, or cried-'Adieu.'"

ordered several carpenters to be put on board the Gloucester from the other ships of the squadron, in order to repair her damage with the utmost expedition. And the captain of the Trial complaining at the same time that his pumps were so bad, and the sloop made so great a quantity of water, that he was scarcely able to keep her free, the Commodore ordered him a pump ready fitted from his own ship. It was very fortunate for the Gloucester and the Trial that the weather proved more favourable this day than for many days both before and after; since by this means they were enabled to receive the assistance which seemed essential to their preservation, and which they could scarcely have had at any other time, as it would have been extremely hazardous to have ventured a boat on board.

The next day, that is, on the 1st of April, the weather returned again to its customary bias, the sky looked dark and gloomy, and the wind began to

2 Under this date, March 31st, Anson's Official Report of his voyage makes the first mention of the scurvy: "Men falling down every day with scorbutic complaints." Thomas also now notes, with some graphic details, the outbreak of the scurvy, which Mr Walter, with a sad want of dramatic instinct, defers to a period of comparatively trivial elemental peril: "And now, as it were to add the finishing stroke to our misfortunes, our people began to be universally afflicted with that most terrible, obstinate, and, at sea, incurable disease, the scurvy, which quickly made a most dreadful havoc among us, beginning at first to carry off two or three a day, but soon increasing, and at last carrying off eight or ten; and as most of the living were very ill of the same distemper, and the little remainder who preserved their healths better, in a manner quite worn out with incessant labour, I have sometimes seen four or five dead bodies, some sewn up in their hammocks, others not, washing about the decks, for want of help to bury them in the

sea.

1741.]

DISTRESS OF THE SQUADRON.

freshen and to blow in squalls; however, it was not yet so boisterous as to prevent our carrying our topsails close reefed; but its appearance was such as plainly prognosticated that a still severer tempest was at hand. And accordingly, on the 3d of April, there came on a storm which both in its violence and continuation (for it lasted three days) exceeded all that we had hitherto encountered. In its first onset, we received a furious shock from the sea which broke upon our larboard quarter, where it stove in the quarter gallery, and rushed into the ship like a deluge; our rigging, too, suffered extremely, for one of the straps of the main dead-eyes was broke, as was also a mainshroud and futtockshroud, so that to ease the stress upon the masts and shrouds we lowered both our main and fore yards, and furled all our sails, and in this posture we lay to for three days, when, the storm somewhat abating, we ventured to make sail under our courses only. But even this we could not do long, for the next day, which was the 7th, we had another hard gale of wind, with lightning and rain, which obliged us to lie to again all night. It was wonderful that, notwithstanding the hard weather we had endured, no extraordinary accident had happened to any of the squadron since the breaking of the Gloucester's mainyard: but this wonder soon ceased;1 for at three the next morning several guns were fired to leeward as signals of distress. And the Commodore making a signal for the squadron to bring to, we at daybreak saw the Wager a considerable way to leeward of any of the other ships; and we soon perceived that she had lost her mizzen mast and maintopsail yard. We immediately bore down to her, and found this disaster had arisen from the badness of her ironwork; for all the chain-plates to windward had given way upon the ship's fetching a deep roll. This proved the more unfortunate to the Wager, as her carpenter had been on board the

1 Ed. 1776: "This good fortune now no longer attended us.

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355

Gloucester ever since the 31st of March, and the weather was now too severe to permit him to return. Nor was the Wager the only ship of the squadron that had suffered in the late tempest; for the next day a signal of distress was made by the Anna pink, and, upon speaking with the master, we learned that they had broken their forestay and the gammon of the bowsprit, and were in no small danger of having all the masts come by the board; so that we were obliged to bear away until they had made all fast, after which we hauled upon a wind again.

By the latitude of the land we [next] fell in with, it was agreed to be a part of Tierra del Fuego, near the southern outlet described in Frazier's chart of the Straits of Magellan, and was supposed to be that point called by him Cape Noir.

It was indeed most wonderful that the currents should have driven us to the eastward with such strength; for the whole squadron esteemed themselves upwards of ten degrees more westerly than this land, so that in running down, by our account, about nineteen degrees of longitude, we had not really advanced above half that distance. And now, instead of having our labours and anxieties relieved by approaching a warmer climate and more tranquil seas, we were [forced] to steer again to the southward, and again to combat those western blasts which had so often terrified us; and this, too, when we were weakened by our men falling sick and dying apace, and when our spirits, dejected by a long continuance at sea, and by our late disappointment, were much less capable of supporting us in the various difficulties which we could not but expect in this new [and arduous] undertaking. Add to all this, too, the discouragement we received by the diminution of the strength of the squadron; for three days before this we lost sight of the Severn and the Pearl in the morning; and though we spread our ships, and beat about for some time, yet we never saw them more; whence we had apprehensions that they too might have fallen in with this land in the night, and, being

less favoured by the wind and the moon than we were, might have run on shore and have perished. Full of these dejected thoughts and gloomy presages, we stood away to the SW., prepared by our late disaster to suspect, that how large soever an allowance we made in our westing for the drift of the eastern current, we might still upon a second trial perhaps find it insufficient.

CHAPTER IX.1

THE improper season of the year in which we attempted to double Cape Horn, and to which is to be imputed the disappointment recited in the foregoing Chapter in falling in with Tierra del Fuego, when we reckoned ourselves at least a hundred leagues to the westward of that whole coast, and consequently well advanced into the Pacific Ocean; this unseasonable navigation, I say, to which we were necessitated by our too late departure from England, was the fatal source of all the misfortunes we afterwards encountered. For from hence proceeded the separation of our ships, the destruction of our people, the ruin of our project on Baldivia and of all our other views on the Spanish places, and the reduction of our squadron from the formidable condition in which it passed Straits Le Maire to a couple of shattered, half-manned cruisers, and a sloop, so far disabled that in many climates they scarcely durst have put to sea.

This Chapter, of twenty pages in the original, is almost entirely devoted to "Observations and Directions for facilitating the Passage of our Future Cruisers round Cape Horn." But as its matter is purely technical, and, however curious as casting light on the state of nautical science a century and a quarter ago, possesses not the smallest popular interest now-a-days, the Chapter is omitted, with the exception of one or two introductory sentences which bear on the actual narrative.

CHAPTER X.

AFTER the mortifying disappointment of falling in with the coast of Tierra del Fuego, when we esteemed ourselves ten degrees to the westward of it; after this disappointment, I say, recited in the eighth Chapter, we stood away to the SW. till the 22d of April, when we were in upwards of 60° S., and by our account near six degrees to the westward of Cape Noir. And in this run we had a series of as favourable weather as could well be expected in that part of the world, even in a better season; so that this interval, setting the inquietude of our thoughts aside, was by far the most eligible of any we enjoyed from Straits Le Maire to the west coast of America. This moderate weather continued with little variation till the 24th; but on the 24th in the evening the wind began to blow fresh, and soon increased to a prodigious storm; and the weather being extremely thick, about midnight we lost sight of the other ships of the squadron, which, notwithstanding the violence of the preceding storms, had hitherto kept in company with us. Nor was this our sole misfortune; for the next morning, endeavouring to hand the topsails, the clewlines and buntlines broke, and, the sheets being halfflown, every scam in the topsails was soon split from top to bottom, and the main-topsail shook so strongly in the wind, that it carried away the top lantern, and endangered the head of the mast. However, at length some of the most daring of our men ventured upon the yard, and cut the sail away close to the reefs, though with the utmost hazard of their lives. At the same time, the foretopsail beat about the yard with so much fury, that it was soon blown to pieces; and that we might have full employment, the mainsail blew loose, which obliged us to lower down the yard to secure the sail; and the fore-yard being likewise lowered, we lay to under a mizzen. And besides the loss of our topsails, we had much of our other

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