Читать книгу A Voyage Round the World - Anson George - Страница 8

The Tryal being nearly refitted, which was our principal occupation at this bay of St. Julian, and the sole occasion of our stay, the commodore thought it necessary, as we were now directly bound for the South Seas and the enemy's coasts, to fix the plan of his first operations; and, therefore, on the 24th of February, a signal was made for all captains, and a council of war was held on board the Centurion, at which were present the Honourable Edward Legg, Captain Matthew Mitchell, the Honourable George Murray, Captain David Cheap, together with Colonel Mordaunt Cracherode, commander of the land-forces. At this council Mr. Anson proposed that their first attempt, after their arrival in the South Seas, should be the attack of the town and harbour of Baldivia, the principal frontier of the district of Chili; Mr. Anson informing them, at the same time, that it was an article contained in his Majesty's instructions to him to endeavour to secure some port in the South Seas where the ships of the squadron might be careened and refitted. To this proposition made by the commodore, the council unanimously and readily agreed, and, in consequence of this resolution, new instructions were given to the captains of the squadron, by which, though they were still directed, in case of separation, to make the best of their way to the island of Nuestra Senora del Socoro (yet notwithstanding the orders they had formerly given them at St. Catherine's) they were to cruise off that island only ten days; from whence, if not joined by the commodore, they were to proceed and cruise off the harbour of Baldivia, making the land between the latitudes of 40° and 40° 30', and taking care to keep to the southward of the port; and if in fourteen days they were not joined by the rest of the squadron, they were then to quit this station, and to direct their course to the island of Juan Fernandes, after which they were to regulate their further proceedings by their former orders. The same directions were also given to the master of the Anna pink, who was not to fail in answering the signals made by any ship of the squadron, and was to be very careful to destroy his papers and orders if he should be so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the enemy. And as the separation of the squadron might prove of the utmost prejudice to his Majesty's service, each captain was ordered to give it in charge to the respective officers of the watch not to keep their ship at a greater distance from the Centurion than two miles, as they would answer it at their peril; and if any captain should find his ship beyond the distance specified, he was to acquaint the commodore with the name of the officer who had thus neglected his duty.

These necessary regulations being established, and the Tryal sloop compleated, the squadron weighed on Friday the 27th of February, at seven in the morning, and stood to the sea; the Gloucester indeed found a difficulty in purchasing her anchor, and was left a considerable way a-stern, so that in the night we fired several guns as a signal to her captain to make sail, but he did not come up to us till the next morning, when we found that they had been obliged to cut their cable, and leave their best bower behind them. At ten in the morning, the day after our departure, Wood's Mount, the high land over St. Julian, bore from us N. by W. distant ten leagues, and we had fifty-two fathom of water. And now standing to the southward, we had great expectation of falling in with Pizarro's squadron; for, during our stay at Port St. Julian, there had generally been hard gales between the W.N.W. and S.W., so that we had reason to conclude the Spaniards had gained no ground upon us in that interval. Indeed it was the prospect of meeting with them that had occasioned our commodore to be so very solicitous to prevent the separation of our ships, for had we been solely intent upon getting round Cape Horn in the shortest time, the properest method for this purpose would have been to have ordered each ship to have made the best of her way to the rendezvous without waiting for the rest.

From our departure from St. Julian to the 4th of March we had little wind, with thick hazy weather and some rain; and our soundings were generally from forty to fifty fathom, with a bottom of black and grey sand, sometimes intermixed with pebble stones. On the 4th of March we were in sight of Cape Virgin Mary, and not more than six or seven leagues distant from it. This cape is the northern boundary of the entrance of the Straights of Magellan; it lies in the latitude of 52° 21' south, and longitude from London 71° 44' west, and seems to be a low flat land, ending in a point. Off this cape our depth of water was from thirty-five to forty-eight fathom. The afternoon of this day was very bright and clear, with small breezes of wind, inclinable to a calm, and most of the captains took the opportunity of this favourable weather to pay a visit to the commodore; but while they were in company together, they were all greatly alarmed by a sudden flame which burst out on board the Gloucester, and which was succeeded by a cloud of smoke. However, they were soon relieved from their apprehensions by receiving information that the blast was occasioned by a spark of fire from the forge lighting on some gunpowder and other combustibles which an officer on board was preparing for use, in case we should fall in with the Spanish fleet, and that it had been extinguished without any damage to the ship.

We here found what was constantly verified by all our observations in these high latitudes, that fair weather was always of an exceeding short duration, and that when it was remarkably fine it was a certain presage of a succeeding storm, for the calm and sunshine of our afternoon ended in a most turbulent night, the wind freshning from the S.W. as the night came on, and increasing its violence continually till nine in the morning the next day, when it blew so hard that we were obliged to bring-to with the squadron, and to continue under a reefed mizen till eleven at night, having in that time from forty-three to fifty-seven fathom water, with black sand and gravel; and by an observation we had at noon, we concluded a current had set us twelve miles to the southward of our reckoning. Towards midnight, the wind abating, we made sail again, and steering south, we discovered in the morning, for the first time, the land called Terra del Fuego, stretching from the S. by W., to the S.E-½E. This indeed afforded us but a very uncomfortable prospect, it appearing of a stupendous height, covered everywhere with snow. The dreariness of this scene can be but imperfectly represented by any drawing. We steered along this shore all day, having soundings from forty to fifty fathom, with stones and gravel. And as we intended to pass through Streights Le Maire next day, we lay-to at night, that we might not overshoot them, and took this opportunity to prepare ourselves for the tempestuous climate we were soon to be engaged in; with which view we employed ourselves good part of the night in bending an entire new suit of sails to the yards. At four the next morning, being the 7th of March, we made sail, and at eight saw the land, and soon after we began to open the streights, at which time Cape St. James bore from us E.S.E., Cape St. Vincent S.E.½E., the middlemost of the Three Brothers S. and by W., Montegorda south, and Cape St. Bartholomew, which is the souther-most point of Staten-land, E.S.E. And here I must observe, that though Frezier has given us a very correct prospect of the part of Terra del Fuego which borders on the streights, yet he has omitted that of Staten-land, which forms the opposite shore: hence we found it difficult to determine exactly where the streights lay, till they began to open to our view; and for want of this, if we had not happened to have coasted a considerable way along shore, we might have missed the streights, and have got to the eastward of Staten-land before we knew it. This is an accident that has happened to many ships, particularly, as Frezier mentions, to the Incarnation and Concord, who intending to pass through Streights Le Maire, were deceived by three hills on Staten-land like the Three Brothers, and some creeks resembling those of Terra del Fuego, and thereby overshot the streights.

And on occasion of the prospect of Staten-land, I cannot but remark, that though Terra del Fuego had an aspect extremely barren and desolate, yet this island of Staten-land far surpasses it in the wildness and horror of its appearance, it seeming to be entirely composed of inaccessible rocks, without the least mixture of earth or mold between them. These rocks terminate in a vast number of ragged points, which spire up to a prodigious height, and are all of them covered with everlasting snow; the points themselves are on every side surrounded with frightful precipices, and often overhang in a most astonishing manner, and the hills which bear them are generally separated from each other by narrow clefts which appear as if the country had been frequently rent by earthquakes; for these chasms are nearly perpendicular, and extend through the substance of the main rocks, almost to their very bottoms: so that nothing can be imagined more savage and gloomy than the whole aspect of this coast. But to proceed.

I have above mentioned, that on the 7th of March, in the morning, we opened Streights Le Maire, and soon after, or about ten o'clock, the Pearl and the Tryal 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 Streights are often esteemed to be the boundary between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and as we presumed we had nothing before us from hence but an open sea, till we arrived on those opulent coasts where all our hopes and wishes centered, we could not help perswading ourselves that the greatest difficulty of our voyage 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 considerably heightened by the brightness of the sky and 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 flattering delusions, we passed those memorable Streights, ignorant of the dreadful calamities which 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 chearful day that the greatest part of us would ever live to enjoy.