A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xii Part 7

On Sunday the 16th, at six in the morning, we saw the island of St Helena, bearing W. by N. at the distance of about sixteen leagues, and about noon, a large ship, which shewed French colours. We pursued our course, and a few days afterwards, as we were sailing with a fine gale, and at a great distance from land, the ship suddenly received a rude shock, as if she had struck the ground: This instantly brought all who were below upon the deck in great consternation, and upon looking out we saw the water to a very large extent, tinged with blood; this put an end to our fears, and we concluded that we must have struck either a whale or a grampus, from which the ship was not likely to receive much damage, nor in fact did she receive any. About this time also we had the misfortune to bury our carpenter's mate, a very ingenious and diligent young man, who had never been well after our leaving Batavia.[47]

[Footnote 47: "By the tenderness and care of the Honourable Mr Byron, our excellent commodore, in causing the crews to be served with portable soup, and with the greatest humanity distributing provisions to the sick from his own table, that dreadful disease the sea-scurvy was rendered less inveterate and fatal, and we lost a less number of men, than any other ship in such a voyage: For, to the honour of that humane commander, let it be known to posterity, that under him the Dolphin and Tamar encompa.s.sed the earth, and in so long a voyage through various seas and climates, and after sailing several thousand leagues under the torrid zone, lost six men only out of each ship, including those that were drowned: A number so inconsiderable, that it is highly probable more of them would have died had they staid on sh.o.r.e."]

On the 25th, we crossed the equator, in longitude 17 10' W. and the next morning, Captain c.u.mming came on board, and informed me that the Tamer's three lower rudder-braces on the stem were broken off, which rendered the rudder unserviceable. I immediately sent the carpenter on board, who found the condition of the braces even worse than had been reported, so that the rudder could not possibly be new hung; he therefore went to work upon a machine, like that which had been fixed to the Ipswich, and by which she was steered home: This machine in about five days he completed, and with some little alterations of his own, it was an excellent piece of work. The Tamar steered very well with it, but thinking that it might not be sufficient to secure her in bad weather, or upon a lee-sh.o.r.e, I ordered Captain c.u.mming to run down to Antigua, that he might there heave the ship down, and get the rudder new hung, with a fresh set of braces which he had with him for that purpose; for the braces with which the ship went out, being of iron, were not expected to last as long as ours, the lower ones, with the sheathing, being of copper.

Pursuant to these orders, the Tamar parted company with us on the 1st of April, and steered for the Caribbee Islands. When we came into lat.i.tude 34 N. longitude 35 W. we had strong gales from W.S.W to W.N.W. with a great sea, which broke over us continually for six days successively, and run us into lat.i.tude 48 N. longitude 14, W. On the 7th of May, at seven o'clock in the morning, we made the islands of Scilly, having been just nine weeks coming from the Cape of Good Hope, and somewhat more than two-and-twenty months upon the voyage; the 9th, the ship came to anchor in the Downs, and on the same day I landed at Deal, and set out for London.

[The reader will find a short but interesting memoir of Byron prefixed, for the first time, to the Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Wager, published at Edinburgh by Ballantyne, 1812. All that it is thought necessary to quote from it here is, that in 1769, about three years after his return from this circ.u.mnavigation, he was appointed governor of Newfoundland, which office he held till 1775; that then he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue, and successively to that of rear-admiral of the white and red; that he was appointed to command the squadron directed to watch and oppose the French fleet under Count d'Estaign, over which, however, owing to circ.u.mstances no prudence or bravery could control, he obtained no decisive advantages; that in 1779, he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral of the white; and that he died in 1786, at the age of 73, generally respected and beloved for his eminent professional and moral qualities.--E.]

CHAPTER II.

AN ACCOUNT or A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, IN THE YEARS 1766, 1767, AND 1768, BY SAMUEL WALLIS, ESQ. COMMANDER OF HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP THE DOLPHIN.

SECTION II.

_The Pa.s.sage to the Coast of Patagonia, with some Account of the Natives._

[The longitude in this voyage is reckoned from the meridian of London.]

Having received my commission, which was dated the 19th of June 1766, I went on board the same day, hoisted the pendant, and began to enter seamen, but, according to my orders, took no boys either for myself or any of the officers.

The ship was fitted for the sea with all possible expedition, during which the articles of war and the act of parliament were read to the ship's company: On the 26th of July we sailed down the river, and on the 16th of August, at eight o'clock in the morning, anch.o.r.ed in Plymouth Sound.

On the 19th I received my sailing orders, with directions to take the Swallow sloop, and the Prince Frederick store-ship, under my command: And this day I took on board, among other things, three thousand weight of portable soup, and a bale of cork jackets. Every part of the ship was filled with stores and necessaries of various kinds, even to the steerage and state-room, which were allotted to the slops and portable soup. The surgeon offered to purchase an extraordinary quant.i.ty of medicines, and medical necessaries, which, as the ship's company might become sickly, he said would in that case be of great service, if room could be found to stow them in; I therefore gave him leave to put them into my cabin, the only place in the ship where they could be received, as they consisted of three large boxes.

On the 22d, at four o'clock in the morning, I weighed and made sail in company with the Swallow and Prince Frederick, and had soon the mortification to find that the Swallow was a very bad sailer.

We proceeded in our voyage, without any remarkable incident, till Sunday the 7th of September, when, about eight o'clock in the morning, we saw the island of Porto Santo, bearing west; and about noon, saw the east end of the island of Madeira.

About five o'clock we ran between this end of the island and the Deserters. On the side next the Deserters is a low flat island, and near it a needle rock; the side next to Madeira is full of broken rocks, and for that reason it is not safe to come within less than two miles of it.

At six in the evening we anch.o.r.ed in Madeira road, about two-thirds of a mile from the sh.o.r.e, in twenty-four fathom, with a muddy bottom: About eight the Swallow and Prince Frederick also came to an anchor; and I sent an officer on sh.o.r.e to the governor, to let him know that I would salute him, if he would return an equal number of guns, which he promised to do; the next morning, therefore, at six o'clock, I saluted him with thirteen guns, and he returned thirteen as he had promised.

Having taken in a proper quant.i.ty of water at this place, with four pipes and ten puncheons of wine, some fresh beef, and a large quant.i.ty of onions, we weighed anchor on the 12th, and continued our voyage.

At six-o'clock in the morning of Tuesday the 16th, we saw the island of Palma, and found the ship fifteen miles to the southward of her reckoning. As we were sailing along this island, at the rate of no less than eight miles an hour, with the wind at east, it died away at once; so that within less than two minutes the ship had no motion, though we were at least four leagues distant from the sh.o.r.e. Palma lies in lat.

28 40' N. long. 17 48' W.

On the 20th we tried the current, and found it set S.W. by W. one mile an hour. This day we saw two herons flying to the eastward, and a great number of bonnettos about the ship, of which we caught eight.

In the night between the 21st and 22d we lost our companion the Swallow, and about eight in the morning we saw the island of Sal, bearing S. 1/2 W., at noon it bore S. 1/4 W. distant eight leagues; and at noon on the 23d, the nearest land of the island of Bonavista here from S. to W.S.W. distant seven or eight miles, the east end, at the same time, bearing W. distant two leagues. In this situation we sounded, and had only fifteen fathom, with rocky ground; at the same time we saw a very great rippling, which we supposed to be caused by a reef, stretching off the point about E.S.E. three miles, and the breakers without us, distant also about three miles in the direction of S.E. We steered between the rippling and the breakers, but after hauling the ship off about half a mile, we had no soundings. The Prince Frederick pa.s.sed very near the breakers, in the S.E., but had no soundings; yet these breakers are supposed to be dangerous. The middle of the isle of Sal is in lat. 16 55' N. long. 21 59' W.; the middle of Bonavista is in lat. 16 10' long. 23 W.

On the next day, at six in the morning, the isle of May bore from W. to S.W. six leagues; and soon after the Swallow again joined company. At half an hour after ten the west end of the isle of May bore north at the distance of five miles, and we found a current here, setting to the southward at the rate of twenty miles in four-and-twenty hours. The lat.i.tude of this island is 15 10' N. longitude 22 25' W.

At noon the south end of the island of St Iago bore S.W. by W. distant four leagues; and the north end N.W. distant five leagues. At half an hour after three we anch.o.r.ed in Port Praya, in that island, in company with the Swallow and Prince Frederick, in eight fathom water, upon sandy ground. We had much rain and lightning in the night, and early in the morning I sent to the commanding officer at the fort, for leave to get off some water, and other refreshments, which he granted.

We soon learnt that this was the sickly season, and that the rains were so great as to render it extremely difficult to get any thing down from the country to the ships: It happened also, unfortunately, that the small-pox, which is extremely fatal here, was at this time epidemic; so that I permitted no man to go ash.o.r.e who had not had that distemper, and I would not suffer even those that had to go into any house.

We procured, however, a supply of water and some cattle from the sh.o.r.e, and caught abundance of fish with the seine, which was hauled twice every day: We found also in the valley where we got our water, a kind of large purslain, growing wild in amazing quant.i.ties: This was a most welcome refreshment both raw as a sallad, and boiled with the broth and pease; when we left the place we carried away enough of it to serve us a week.

On the 28th, at half an hour after twelve, we weighed and put to sea; at half an hour after six in the evening the peak of Fuego bore W.N.W.

distant twelve leagues, and in the night the burning mountain was very visible.

This day I ordered hooks and lines to be served to all the ship's company, that they might catch fish for themselves; but at the same time I also ordered that no man should keep his fish more than four-and-twenty hours before it was eaten, for I had observed that stale, and even dried fish, had made the people sickly, and tainted the air in the ship.

On the first of October, in lat. 10 37' N. we lost the true trade-wind, and had only light and variable gales; and this day we found that the ship was set twelve miles to the northward by a current; on the third we found a current run S. by E. at the rate of six fathom an hour, or about twenty miles and a half a day: On the seventh we found the ship nineteen miles to the southward of her reckoning.

On the 20th, our b.u.t.ter and cheese being all expended, we began to serve the ship's company with oil, and I gave orders that they should also be served with mustard and vinegar once a fortnight during the rest of the voyage.

On the 22d we saw an incredible number of birds, and among the rest a man-of-war bird, which inclined us to think that some land was not more than sixty leagues distant: This day we crossed the equator in longitude 23 40' W.

On the 24th, I ordered the ship's company to be served with brandy, and reserved the wine for the sick and convalescent. On the 26th the Prince Frederick made signals of distress, upon which we bore down to her, and found that she had carried away her fore-top-sail-yard, and to supply this loss, we gave her our sprit-sail top-sail-yard, which we could spare, and she hoisted it immediately.

On the 27th she again made signals of distress, upon which I brought-to, and sent the carpenter on board her, who returned with an account that she had sprung a leak under the larboard cheek forward, and that it was impossible to do any thing to it till we had better weather. Upon speaking with Lieutenant Brine, who commanded her, he informed me that the crew were sickly; that the fatigue of working the pumps, and constantly standing by the sails, had worn them down; that their provisions were not food, that they had nothing to drink but water, and that he feared it would be impossible for him to keep company with me except I could spare him some a.s.sistance. For the badness of their provision I had no remedy, but I sent on board a carpenter and six seamen to a.s.sist in pumping and working the ship.

On the eighth of November, being in lat.i.tude 25 52' S. longitude 39 38', we sounded with 160 fathom, but had no ground: On the ninth, having seen a great number of birds, called albatrosses, we sounded again with 180 fathom, but had no ground.

On the 11th, having by signal brought the store-ship under our stern, I sent the carpenter, with proper a.s.sistants, on board to stop the leak; but they found that very little could be done: We then completed our provisions, and those of the Swallow, from her stores, and put on board her all our staves, iron hoops, and empty oil jars. The next day I sent a carpenter and six seamen to relieve the men that had been sent to a.s.sist her on the 27th of October, who, by this time, began to suffer much by their fatigue. Several of her crew having the appearance of the scurvy, I sent the surgeon on board her with some medicines for the sick. This day, having seen some albatrosses, turtles, and weeds, we sounded, but had no ground with 180 fathom.

On the 12th, being now in lat.i.tude 30 south, we began to find it very cold; we therefore got up our quarter cloths, and fitted them to their proper places, and the seamen put on their thick jackets. This day we saw a turtle, and several albatrosses, but still had no ground with 180 fathom. We continued to see weeds and birds on board the ship, but had no ground till the 18th, when we found a soft muddy bottom at the depth of fifty-four fathom. We were now in lat. 35 40' S. long. 49 54' W.; and this was the first sounding we had after our coming upon the coast of Brazil.

On the 19th, about eight o'clock in the evening, we saw a meteor of a very extraordinary appearance in the north-east, which, soon after we had observed it, flew off in a horizontal line to the south-west, with amazing rapidity: It was near a minute in its progress, and it left a train of light behind it so strong, that the deck was not less illuminated than at noon-day. This day we saw a great number of seals about the ship, and had soundings at fifty-five fathom, with a muddy bottom. The next day the seals continued, and we had soundings at fifty-three fathom, with a dark-coloured sand; upon which we bent our cables.

On the 21st we had no ground with 150 fathom. Our lat. at noon was 37 40' S. long 51 24' W.

On the 22d we had soundings again at seventy fathom, with a dark brown sand, and saw many whales and seals about the ship, with a great number of b.u.t.terflies, and birds, among which were snipes and plovers. Our lat.

at noon was 38 55' long. 56 47' W.

Our soundings continued from forty to seventy fathom, till the eighth of December, when, about six o'clock in the morning, we saw land bearing from S.W. to W. by S. and appearing like many small islands. At noon it bore from W. by S. to S.S.W. distant eight leagues; our lat.i.tude then being 47 16' S. long. 64 58' W. About three o'clock Cape Blanco bore W.N.W. distant six leagues, and a remarkable double saddle W.S.W.

distant about three leagues. We had now soundings from twenty to sixteen fathom, sometimes with coa.r.s.e sand and gravel, sometimes with small black stones and sh.e.l.ls. At eight in the evening the Tower rock at Port Desire bore S.W. by W. distant about three leagues; and the extremes of the land from S. by E. to N.W. by N. At nine, Penguin Island bore S.W.

by W. 1/2 W. distant two leagues; and at four o'clock in the morning of the ninth, the land seen from the mast-head bore from S.W. to W. by N.

At noon, Penguin island bore S. by E. distant fifty-seven miles; our lat.i.tude being 48 56' S. longitude 65 6' W. This day we saw such a quant.i.ty of red shrimps about the ship that the sea was coloured with them.

At noon the next day, Wednesday the 10th, the extremes of the land bore from S.W. to N.W. and Wood's Mount, near the entrance of St Julian's, bore S.W. by W. distant three or four leagues. Our lat.i.tude was 49 16'

S. our longitude 66 48' W.; and our soundings were from forty to forty-five fathom, sometimes fine sand, sometimes soft mud.

At noon, on Thursday the 11th, Penguin Island bore N.N.E. distant fifty-eight leagues. Our lat.i.tude was 50 48' S. our longitude 67 10'

W.