Читать книгу Darwin´s Betrayal - Gerardo Bartolomé - Страница 7

Sitting at his desk planning the expedition he hoped to start by the end of 1876, Moreno was interrupted by Pedro, his manservant.

“Mr Moreno! Several parcels have arrived with mail from England.”

Moreno turned and saw Pedro holding an envelope, two boxes and a cylinder which, he suspected, contained maps.

“Leave it all on the table and hurry over to tell Mr. Coghlan. Quick!!”

As Pedro left, Moreno opened the cylinder. Inside he found three sheets larger than his desk.

The first one was a detailed map of the mouth of the Santa Cruz River. It showed the estuary and surrounding hills, with depth indicators marking several points in it. This information would be very useful to the Captain of a large ship! Mount Entrance and Shingle Point were the names given to the headlands that delimited the entrance to the estuary. From a point inside the estuary, marked on the map as Weddell Bluff, 300 feet high, two vectors were drawn resembling the ones that indicated the visible angle of a lighthouse. The angle projected out to sea with an aperture of no more than 10 degrees. “The Beagle’s crew must have built a stone landmark at this point which can probably be seen when you are within these vectors,” thought Moreno.

Lighthouses and stone landmarks are built in places where there are hidden dangers… In this case, the map showed that the estuary concealed a deadly trap for those who were unaware of it … right in front of the entrance to the estuary there was a rocky underwater reef running parallel to the coast and exactly where the logical course a ship unaware of the danger would be. “Of course,” thought Moreno, “the true entry channel is further south. If a ship attempts to sail in this course, it would hit the reef and sink. The landmark is there to warn them: don’t come in this way”. The map also had thick arrows drawn to indicate the direction of tides and their speed in knots (as much as 6 knots!5), further down a legend warned: Tides of up to 33 feet. “So these dotted lines show the coastline at low tide.” Moreno said to himself, “Weddell Bluff must only be seen from inside the estuary when you go past Keel Point.”

Still fascinated by the first sheet, Moreno looked at the second one. This one showed three views of the mouth of the estuary as seen from the sea. They showed the coastline as it was seen from the ship’s bridge. The top view was from the North East. The angle of this view was indicated above (250 degrees). The headlands were visible, but a legend below warned Entrance not possible from the North. The second view was from a 300-degree angle, almost directly east. A legend at the bottom of the diagram warned that sunken rocks did not allow access. The drawing showed the headlands and between them a cliff was visible inside the estuary, and on the highest point of this cliff there was a stone landmark. An arrow and a legend explained Weddell Bluff visible from here. Finally, the third view showed the only course possible to access the estuary, the southern one, although a legend warned Entrance only possible at high tide. Not only were the rocks and the shallowness a menace for the ship seeking the shelter of the estuary, the speed of the tides were an added problem for a vessel that relied on wind to advance. A Captain would have to be patient and wait until the tide coincided with winds from the right quadrant. “It obviously is not a suitable port for a Ship in distress”. However, as a reward, Santa Cruz Port offered refuge for the ship and crew, which, Moreno knew, was what the Beagle had searched for in 1834.

Map of the estuary of the Santa Cruz River,

surveyed by the officers of HMS Beagle.

Finally, the third sheet showed the whole course of the Santa Cruz River from the estuary all the way to the Andes, although these were in the hazy area of Terra Incognita. Several mountains on the range were named (one was Mount Stokes!), the expedition must have seen them in the distance but were never near them.

Moreno opened one of the boxes. In it there were a great deal of neatly folded sketches. The title on the first one was Views from Observation Points on Keel Point and Weddell Bluff. It showed a simple view of the horizon from Keel Point and from Weddell Bluff; Shingle Point, Mount Entrance, Sea Lion Island, Beagle Bluff and several other significant points were drawn as seen from Keel Point and Weddell Bluff, and above each the degrees which represented the angle of the view to the magnetic North. Below were the instructions on how to calculate the coordinates for each one, that is, how to calculate the coordinates for each point starting from the coordinates of Keel Point and Weddell Bluff plus the angle to the magnetic North. Moreno knew quite a bit of geodesics and understood how you can calculate the coordinates of faraway places that are visible, even though they are out of reach, and so be able to place them on a map. His delight at having all this data available made him smile. “These sketches will allow us to identify these mountains by their silhouette,” he thought.

His curiosity made him continue looking through the contents of the box. A at the bottom of it caught his eye. The title of this sketch was View from No-God Point. “View from No-God Point?” thought Moreno, “what a strange name for a view point. Why would they have chosen such a name?” The last sketch was made from a place called Western Station. On the map of the Santa Cruz River each one of these viewpoints was marked and Western Station was as far west as FitzRoy and Darwin’s expedition had reached. On the map he noticed a plain named Mystery Plain. The reason for this name was that the British expedition never found out what hidden wonders were beyond it.

The sound of a door opening and approaching footsteps brought him back to the real world.

“Moreno! Moreno! What was in the mail?”

By the heavy British accent he recognized John Coghlan. Coghlan opened the door to Moreno’s study and, seeing the boxes and maps on the table he shouted in triumph, “He accepted our request!!”

“I suppose he did. All I did so far was to look at these maps,” said Moreno.

“Don’t be uncivilized, man! When you receive a parcel, the first thing you do is read the letter that comes with it. Open it now!” he ordered.

Moreno had not paid much attention to the envelope. The handwriting was rounded and clear and written on heavy white Admiralty paper. He carefully opened one end of the envelope and took out a three-page letter.

To: Francisco P. Moreno

From: Vice-Admiral John Lort Stokes

Dear Mr. Moreno,

Thank you very much for your kind letter. I am very pleased to know you are projecting an exploration trip along the River Santa Cruz, where over forty years ago our exploring party, led by the late Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, advanced up to a place not far from the impressive Andes. I cannot but wish you and your group every success.

Your accounts of your trip to the headwater of the Limay River and your adventures with the aborigines made me fondly remember those distant days when I, being young and daring as you are, engaged in similar explorations. On one occasion, when we were attacked by Australian aborigines, I suffered a severe shoulder wound from a lance that very nearly cost me my life. Although I can now talk about this episode as an exciting anecdote, at the time, since I was in charge of the expedition, the lack of precise information on the lay of the land and possible dangers not only put my own life at risk, but also that of those who were in my command. That is why I find it very wise of you to seek all possible documentation and data on the region you are going to explore, and I understand that your request is part of this planning.

However, the maps, memoirs and sketches you request are not only hard to come by (it has been many years since our voyage) but they also require authorizations which are not easy to get. Obviously, by the time you receive this letter you will be aware that a great deal of this data is accompanying it, so it will be clear I have taken the trouble of securing them.

Given the fact that Robert FitzRoy is deceased, the only way to have access to his files was to contact his widow who has been, since his death, a lady-in-waiting of the Royal Family at the Royal Palace in Hampton Court. My own files are at my family estate in faraway Wales. Finally, the most important part of the data I have sent you, and the data I could send you shortly, belongs to the Admiralty and requires a well-founded request to secure the relevant permissions to make copies of them. These are some of the reasons why I took almost two months to answer you.

You will surely ask yourself why I took the trouble in the first place. You have certainly, through your spontaneous and sincere style, captured my fancy; but this is not the main reason why I have decided to back your expedition. My help, however, will be given on the condition that, in exchange, you accept to fulfil a request I will detail later.

We could say that I offer you a gentleman’s agreement, to give you the data you need if, and only if, you agree to honour my request which, I assure you, you are perfectly capable of fulfilling.

If you do not agree, then you must, as a true gentleman, return all the parcels unopened.

I shall let you know what my request is later, but I will say that it has to do with the recognition that FitzRoy, unjustly, has never received.

So, my dear Mr. Moreno, if you accept the commitment, you must answer this letter stating your acceptance and you may then proceed to open the boxes that accompany this envelope. On the other hand, if you decide not to accept it, then you must return them unopened.

Expecting your answer, I remain,

Truly Yours,

Vice-Admiral John Lort Stokes

Moreno and Coghlan looked at each other.

“What will you do?” asked Coghlan, “will you accept his offer?”

“What choice do I have? The Argentine strategy for Patagonia needs this data and the involvement of some high ranking officer in the Admiralty, like Stokes. But Coghlan, you know the British better than I do, what could his request be?”

“To be honest, I’m as baffled as you are. It might be a monument with a bust of FitzRoy, or a square or a book in his honour … But that doesn’t matter much now. What we must do is answer his letter at once and take it directly to the ship that is still at its mooring, so your answer can get to England sooner.”

They both cleared the desk and after choosing paper and pen to match the occasion, they got down to writing the letter, as they had done several months before. This time they were more relaxed, however. They wrote a short note and soon Pedro was on his way to the port to deliver it so it could continue its way to Europe.

They now faced the exiting task of going through the contents of the parcels and cataloguing the data. Coghlan ordered mate6. As a true Criollo7 Irishman, he had adopted the local custom of drinking mate and indulged in it whenever he could, specially while reading a good book, or a friend’s letter or writing his diary, so how could he not indulge in it while examining the chronicles, maps and sketches of the voyage that had such an impact on recent history?

Moreno, who had already seen part of the contents of the parcels, showed Coghlan the maps and sketches. The Irishman, being an engineer, had a perfect understanding of the method for calculating coordinates, and also made Moreno note a series of details he had overlooked. The name “No God Point” with which an observation point was marked also baffled him, and he could not imagine what had prompted it.

A box still remained unopened. Once opened, they found more maps, coordinate calculation rationale and sketches in it. But there was one other item that caught their eye. It was a thick folder that held a manuscript in the clear round writing of Vice-Admiral Stokes. The first page seemed to be a letter addressed to Moreno:

Dear Mr. Moreno,

If you are reading these lines it means that you have accepted the gentleman’s agreement I offered.

What I shall be narrating in the following pages is a story only three persons know of. The purpose of doing this is so you understand the reason for the request I shall be making at the end.

I joined the Royal Navy many years ago. I was not seduced, as most young men were, by the glory and victories during the Napoleonic Wars, but enthralled by the fantastic adventures of Captain James Cook’s exploratory voyages. My dream, during my youth, was to be in command of a ship exploring unknown lands. I sailed on three exploratory voyages in the brig HMS Beagle. On the third one I eventually was appointed Captain and spent six years exploring Australia’s shores; my dream had come true.

I must confess, however, that the burden of being responsible for the well-being of over eighty people in dangerous country is overwhelming. Cook himself was killed by aborigines on his last trip, which goes to show that safety must be foremost in the leader’s priorities, even above the exploratory objectives of an expedition.

Every time the ship and crew were in a difficult situation and I, the Captain, was expected to make an effective decision, I experienced the extreme loneliness of command and the burden of responsibility, and with it the fear of failure, through which I could bring harm to those whose safety I had been entrusted with. On those occasions I resorted to a little trick by which I felt there was someone I could turn to for advice. I made believe Robert FitzRoy was sitting next to me and would tell me what he would do in that situation.

FitzRoy was, in my view, the model of the Captain who is truly prepared to face adversity, his crew had a blind faith in him and his leadership was undisputed. From him I learned everything I would later need to comply with the demanding survey tasks assigned to me by the Admiralty.

FitzRoy was a man called upon to do great things, which no doubt he did. But destiny would have him take on the role of guardian, for which he was condemned by society, in particular by the scientific world, and was thus denied the recognition he deserved.

This role of guardian has to do with his attitude towards the scientific discoveries which were the result of the famous second voyage of the Beagle. Curiously, he contributed, through his intelligence and scientific mind, to piece together the theory he later endeavoured to ridicule and would eventually lead to his tragic end. He took on this role, however, and stuck to it even though he was aware that his reputation would be shattered and with it any goal he might have planned for his life.

On the other hand, Charles Darwin was, and is, another great personality that I was fortunate to know and admire, although we have not seen much of each other lately, mainly due to the depression he fell into after our Captain’s death.

I endeavoured to honour both FitzRoy and Darwin by naming and important river and a bay, respectively, after them during my survey and discovery voyage to Australia.

When did this story commence? It is hard to say. I met FitzRoy when he took command of the HMS Beagle, at the age of 23, as a result of the death of its Captain, Pringle Stokes (who, in spite of having the same surname, was no relation of mine), who committed suicide. Pringle Stokes could not cope with the responsibility I have mentioned before and shot himself when he realized that, due to errors he had incurred in during the survey, the Beagle and its crew would have to endure a further year in the distressing channels of Tierra del Fuego.

FitzRoy took command firmly and carried out the task he had been assigned: to finish the survey and complete the Beagle’s first voyage. On his return to England, he immediately got down to planning the second voyage, of which Darwin would be part of.

Perhaps that is why I am inclined to think that it all started in Plymouth, where we were outfitting the HMS Beagle for its second voyage, which would take it around the world.

It was a horrid autumn afternoon, when English weather is at its worst: mist, cold, wind and a persistent drizzle. Captain FitzRoy came aboard in the company of a rather shy young man with light brown hair …

“Stokes!” bellowed the Captain, “Stokes, come over, I want you to meet someone.”

Young John Stokes approached, eyeing the Captain’s companion with distaste. Years at sea had made him feel uncomfortable, even suspicious, around ‘landlubbers’ as they were referred to on board. This young man appeared to be two or three years older than himself. He was 19 years old at the time.

“This is Charles Darwin, who will be the Naturalist on board during our trip. Mr. Darwin will be sharing the map room with you. While you draw maps Mr. Darwin will desiccate animals or use his microscope, or make great discoveries,” this last comment in an almost humorous tone.

Stokes shook Darwin’s hand in a not too friendly manner, so the Captain, who knew his men well, added:

“Mr. Darwin comes from Shropshire County, very close to your native Wales, Mr. Stokes. He has recently made a geological trip to the Welsh mountains, so I am sure you will have plenty to talk about.”

Section plan of H.M.S. Beagle.

“Of course we do!” Stokes’ expression had changed and he pumped Darwin’s hand vigorously, “only on our trip we will miss the Welsh mountains, since at sea there are no mountains to climb.”

“Behind each port there will be mountains we can climb,” said Darwin on impulse, “Even here, in Plymouth, we can climb mount Edgecombe, if you are so inclined.”

“Count me in!” said Stokes. That instant was the start of the friendship between Darwin and Stokes that would last over fifty years.

“Mr. Stokes, while I supervise the loading, please show Mr. Darwin around the ship and where his quarters are,” and then to Darwin, “I will see you this evening for dinner on shore. I shall take you to a place where they cook the best lamb you can eat. See you, gentlemen…” and he strolled away towards the bridge.

Stokes took Darwin on a ‘guided’ tour of the Beagle. He showed him the map room, where not only would they share their working hours, but was also their cabin, in which they would sleep in hammocks that hung from the ceiling. Darwin was appalled at the cramped quarters, but he was assured that with time he would get used to it.

While they went over every nook and cranny, Stokes gave Darwin an account of the ship’s history. The Beagle was the 41st vessel of the Cherokee class, of which over a hundred had been built. The ships of this class were often called ‘coffin brigs’ because twenty-six of them had sunk in high seas. The Beagle, however, had been modified in several ways which had improved its handling, making it faster and safer than the rest, as had been proven during the very successful voyage to Tierra del Fuego, surveying the channels around the Strait of Magellan. Stokes had been on that voyage and FitzRoy had been Captain for the last stretch of it.

Stokes practically recited the ship’s data: launched in June 1818, 242 tonnes displacement and 90 feet long. The crew would be augmented by several supernumeraries that included Darwin, three Fuegian Indians and the Anglican preacher who was going to attempt to establish a mission in southern Tierra del Fuego.

“Mr. Stokes, could you tell me how these aborigines came to England and what is planned for their future?”

“I do not know what is planned for them; I suggest you ask the Captain about that. I can tell you how they got here, however. When we were in Tierra del Fuego a party from the Beagle landed on one of the islands to do some surveying and take readings to calculate coordinates. While they were on the island and distracted, a group of Fuegians stole the whaleboat. The Captain pursued them and we managed to capture a small group that had the oars. The Captain decided to release the older ones so hoping they would return the boat while we retained the children as ‘collateral’. The Fuegians never returned. We continued searching for the whaleboat and captured one older Fuegian whom we named York Minster. We finally never recovered the boat, but found we had four new passengers who seemed to be quite content to be on board with us. The Captain decided to take them back to England to be educated and on the next trip return them so they could take education and civilization back to their people. That is, the plan would be for them to establish a small colony with a clergyman. The Fuegians will be arriving in a few days and then you will have the chance to meet them. Originally there were four of them, but one died. The younger ones are around twelve years old, the boy we called Jemmy Button and the girl Fuegia Basket. They are tremendously pleasant and very intelligent. The elder one, York Minster, is sullener and we believe he is around twenty-eight.

During this tour, Stokes kept introducing people to Darwin, who could retain neither names nor faces, no matter how hard he tried. He was only able to remember Wickham, who was second in command, and young King who would be sharing the map room with him and Stokes, and who was the son of well-known Captain King, FitzRoy’s superior during his first trip on the Beagle and who now commanded the H.M.S. Adventure, a much larger ship than the Beagle.

“Where do we eat?” asked Darwin.

“There is a main galley for the crew and a smaller one for the officers. That is where I take my meals, but you will have the privilege of dining with the Captain in his quarters. It is a rare privilege that is not often granted, Mr. Darwin.”

In the end, darkness and the persistent rain brought the tour to an end, and they agreed on meeting the next day to start stowing Darwin’s belongings on board. Darwin was afraid he would not be able to load all the items he had planned to.

The outfitting and loading took a few more weeks. Whenever he had a free moment, FitzRoy would take Darwin to visit the city, which had a rich seafaring history. Amongst other things, it was from where the British fleet, under Francis Drake, had set sail to confront, and defeat, the formidable Spanish Armada at Calais, France, in 1588.

“The legend has it that before leaving to battle, Drake played cards in the taverns near the port, as if to let everyone know that the Spaniards did not worry him, but that is not so.” FitzRoy was well versed in military history and enjoyed showing off his knowledge, “The truth is that to leave Plymouth Port the wind must blow from a specific quadrant and this must coincide with receding high tide. This combination happens, on average, only once every four days. So in fact Drake stayed on playing cards while he waited for the conditions to be favourable. We must do the same in early December when we are ready to leave.

They continued walking along the wharfs. The port was protected by a powerful citadel. Its cannon controlled the access to the port, but it had also played an important part in land battles.

“A castle in the city was built by Henry VIII. However, during the Civil War the city sided the Parlamentarians and was besieged for almost four years. Although there was a Parlamentarian victory Charles II was restored and he built here the citadel that we now see.”

FitzRoy continued his account, “there,” he said pointing at a long pier that jutted out to sea and disappeared into the mist, “is the pier from which the famous Mayflower left, taking the first British colonists to North America, the ‘pilgrims’. They surely had good memories of Plymouth since that is the name they gave to their first colony.” FitzRoy continued his account, “there,” he said pointing at a long pier that jutted out to sea and disappeared into the mist, “is the pier from which the famous Mayflower left, taking the first British colonists to North America, the ‘pilgrims’. They surely had good memories of Plymouth since that is the name they gave their first colony.”

“As you can see, Mr. Darwin, this port has been a witness to great historic events. One day someone will note that you and I set out from here to circumnavigate the world,” this said on a humorous note.

On the ship activity was hectic. Every nook and cranny was used to stow provisions and equipment, since they would not return to England for at least four years. One of the technological novelties that the Beagle harboured were installed in the map room: twenty-two portable chronometers that were the most accurate time pieces in Great Britain. Stokes was very excited about this equipment and he explained to Darwin what they were used for.

“To draw maps, or to determine where one is, we use coordinates. Latitude indicates the position relative to the equator, while longitude indicates the angle relative to the Greenwich meridian (Greenwich is near London). To measure latitude a sextant is used, I must confess I have not seen one as accurate as the Captain’s. The sextant measures the angle of the sun or a star at its highest point (if it is the sun, this occurs at midday) relative to the horizon. As a ship is constantly moving it is not possible to get a good reading on board, so we usually must land in the morning and wait until midday to take a reading. To measure longitude, we must record the exact time at which the sun reaches its peak. The chronometers are set to Greenwich Time and keep it with great accuracy. As we know the Greenwich Time at the moment the sun reaches its peak we can establish the distance we are from the meridian. The more accurate the chronometer, the smaller the error. We carry twenty-two because in this way we can average the reading and thus increase accuracy. Our estimate is that the error will be less than 20 seconds of a degree, which means that on any point on earth the error will be less than two thousand feet. Never before have there been such accurate measuring and I will be in charge of making them.” Stokes face glowed with pride in a way Darwin had seldom seen.

Almost two months went by before the ship was finally ready to set sail. As from that moment the crew was required to stay aboard so they could be mustered as soon as the weather and tide conditions were right. Days went by one after the other. December advanced but Nature seemed not to want to give them permission to leave. Darwin was convinced that they would never leave. When Christmas finally came, the Captain gave the crew permission to go to church for the Christmas Service. After the service many crew members went to bid farewell to the taverns and several got back to the ship stone drunk. On the morning of the 26th the weather conditions were perfect to set sail, but the crew’s condition was not. FitzRoy was forced to postpone the start of the voyage for another day. Fortunately on the 27th the weather conditions remained favourable and they were able to sail.

FitzRoy would not let the indiscipline go unpunished. He prepared the commencing speech he would give the crew that afternoon at sea, but he also prepared the punishment for those seamen whose drunkenness had been notorious. Darwin would soon discover a new facet of the Captain’s personality, a personality he would never quite grasp and that would eventually lead to tragedy.