Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle Part 5

All accounts of Port Famine informed us of its abounding in fish, but as yet we had taken none excepting with hook and line, although the seine had been frequently shot. At last, however, in the first week of February, we had a successful haul of mullet and smelts, many of the former weighing eight pounds, and the latter measuring fifteen inches in length. After this we were often very fortunate, and on one occasion caught, at one haul of the seine, sixteen hundred-weight of smelts, some weighing two pounds, and measuring twenty inches in length. A few days previously we had a draught of mullet, which served the crews of both Adventure and Beagle for three days. Geese, wild ducks and teal, snipe, and now and then woodc.o.c.ks, were to be found by taking a short walk; there were, however, no quadrupeds fit for food which we could take. Foxes and wild cats were occasionally seen, and a foot-mark of some large animal of the feline race, probably a puma, was once observed upon the beach. We found many traces of horses, which showed that the Patagonian Indians sometimes come thus far south. Had we been so fortunate as to meet them here, we might have procured, perhaps, a regular supply of guanaco meat.

On the 9th of February, as the weather seemed favourable for ascending Mount Tarn,[41] Lieutenant Cooke, the Surgeon, and Anderson, the botanical collector, set off in advance to select a convenient place for pa.s.sing the night, carrying with them a tent and provisions. I followed later in the day, and, while the boat's crew were arranging their loads, made some observations with a barometer on the beach.

Our way led through thick underwood, and then, with a gradual ascent, among fallen trees, covered with so thick a coating of moss, that at every step we sunk up to the knees {40} before firm footing could be found. It was very laborious work, and the ground being saturated, and each tree dripping with moisture, we were soon wet through. We proceeded along the same sort of road up a steep ascent; some one of the party constantly falling into deep holes covered by moss, or stumbling over fallen trunks of trees. As I carried a barometer I was obliged to proceed with caution, and succeeded in emerging from this jungle without accident. After about three quarters of an hour spent in this way, we reached an open s.p.a.ce, where we rested, and I set up the barometer. Here we found a cypress of very stunted growth.

Our road hence was rather more varied: always steep, but sometimes free from impediment. Here and there we observed the boggy soil was faced with a small plant (_Chamitis sp._) of a harsh character, growing so thick and close as to form large tufts, over which we walked as on hard ground. We struggled through several thickets of stunted beech-trees, with a thick jungle of Berberis underneath, whose strong and sharp thorns penetrated our clothes at every step; and began to find the fatigue very oppressive: some of my boat's crew suffered much, being unused to such exercise. At last we approached the place where Mr. Cooke and his party had established themselves, and upon hailing, were invigorated by a cheer in reply. We reached the bivouac in a very way-worn condition, and found, to our great comfort, the tent pitched, and a good fire burning.[42]

The ground was so exceedingly wet, that although we slept upon branches, forming a layer at least a foot thick, we found ourselves, in the night, lying as if in a mora.s.s, and suffering from cold, even with a large fire blazing at our feet. At daylight next morning, just as we were starting, a boat was seen sailing round Cape San Isidro, which, by the aid of a telescope, I made out to be the Hope.

We resumed the ascent, and pa.s.sed over, rather than through, thickets of the crumply-leaved beech, which, from {41} their exposure to the prevailing winds, rose no higher than twelve or fourteen inches from the ground, with widely-spreading branches, so closely interwoven, as to form a platform that bore our weight in walking. We next traversed an extent of table-land,[43] much intersected by ponds of water. Mr. Tarn shot two plovers of a new species (_Charadrius rubecola_, Zool. Jour. vol. iv. p.

96), and a snipe. We then ascended three or four hundred feet, and crossed a deep ravine. The bottom of the ravine was clay-slate in a decomposing state, but the surface of the ground was strewed with pebbles of granite.

Another plain, with many ponds, succeeded; the intervening s.p.a.ces being covered with tufts of chamitis, and studded here and there with small cl.u.s.ters of dwarf beech; but the ground was so hard, and firm, that we proceeded rapidly, without fatigue, until we attained the height of 1,800 feet, when the ascent became very steep. Near the summit lay a large ma.s.s of snow, rapidly melting away. We reached the highest pinnacle of the mount at seven o'clock (having left our resting-place at four), and immediately set up the instruments. I was obliged to avail myself of Mr. Tarn's a.s.sistance to hold the barometer, whilst two of my boat's crew held the legs of the theodolite-stand, for the wind was blowing very strongly, and the edge of a precipice was close to us, perpendicular for many hundred feet, and thence downwards so steep, that any body going over would fall at least a thousand feet. The theodolite-stand was unavoidably placed within a very few inches of the edge, and I took a round of angles, suffering, however, intense pain from the piercing coldness of the wind, which, heated as we were by the ascent, was much felt, though the temperature was not lower than 39. I was lightly clothed, and should have fared badly, had not one of the party lent me his Flushing jacket, while he descended under the lee of the mountain-top to make a fire. The barometer stood at 26,618, the temperature of the air being 40, and of {42} the mercury 43.[44]

Unfortunately the day was very cloudy, and many squalls of sleet and rain, which obscured the hills, pa.s.sed whilst I was taking bearings. To the N.E., towards the supposed Sebastian Channel, the horizon was too hazy to allow much view. A deep inlet was seen in that direction; but whether the land closed round, or whether a channel was at the bottom, we could not distinguish. A considerable body of water was observed to the southward of Cape St. Valentyn, behind Lomas Bay, but its extent was screened from our view by the intervention of the Lomas hills. It appeared to be a channel, the opposite or eastern side of it being formed by the high ranges previously seen from Point St. Mary. Cordova's Ports San Antonio and Valdez were distinctly made out; but, to the southward, every thing was enveloped in mist.

The bearings and observations, which occupied me nearly two hours, being completed, we all adjourned to a sheltered cleft in the rock close to our station, where we soon recovered the use of our fingers.[45]

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Having accomplished our object, we began the descent. In a comparatively mild and agreeable spot, I again set up the theodolite and barometer, while some of the party employed themselves in fruitless attempts to kindle a fire. The height, by the barometer, proved to be 1,845 feet above the sea; and the bearings from this station were much better than those I had taken from the exposed summit.

We reached our tent at noon, having been absent seven hours. At three we reached the beach, where the barometer stood at 29,312 (air 61.3,[46] and mercury 62,5).

Excepting near the sea, where clay-slate (very similar to that of Point St.

Anna, but with an opposite dip) showed itself, the side of the hill is clothed with trees and underwood, and no rock is visible until one arrives at the ravine. Around the summit of Mount Tarn the ground is bare, but so covered with small decomposed fragments, that the solid rock only appears occasionally: it is very hard, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture: some of the specimens which we detached bore indistinct impressions of organic remains. We also found, projecting from the rock in which they were embedded, nodules, or small rounded ma.s.ses of stone, in an advanced state of decomposition, mouldering away in laminar forms somewhat resembling the inner leaves of a cabbage. Several were brought away carefully, but before we arrived on board they had crumbled to pieces: the nucleus was quite hard, but was surrounded by concentric laminae, more brittle the nearer they approached to the outer surface. It seemed as if the face of the summit {44} above-mentioned was covered with the decomposing fragments of these nodules.

The highest parts of the Mount form a ridge extending S.E. and N.W., being a succession of strata of slaty rock, dipping to the eastward, at an angle of 15 or 20 from the horizon. The strata are very narrow, and separated from each other by a vein of quartz, much of which is in a crystallized state. We reached the ship about seven o'clock, and found that the Hope and her party had done well. Her cruize proved interesting, with regard to the geography of the Strait, and a summary of it is subjoined.

Mr. Graves's orders were to survey the Sebastian Channel; but in the event of his seeing any thing more interesting to the S.E., he was allowed to defer that service to another opportunity. The Hope crossed the Strait, and anch.o.r.ed in a small bay, formed between the two projecting points of Cape Valentyn, where some few defects in the vessel were remedied, and a good round of angles obtained from the summit of the Cape, whence there was a fine view. The country was low, undulating, and dest.i.tute of trees. From a station about two miles overland, to the eastward, a large body of water was observed to the southward, forming a channel, or deep sound, and it was determined to follow up its examination, rather than risk the crew in the deep bay that was supposed to communicate with the San Sebastian Channel, on board a vessel whose capabilities were unknown. Several fire-places and remains of wigwams were seen; the latter were, however, very different, both in shape and material, from those at Port Famine, for the country being dest.i.tute of trees, they were built of driftwood, piled up in a conical form.

Pa.s.sing round Cape Valentyn, the Hope hauled to the southward, keeping the land on board. At night she anch.o.r.ed in Philip Gidley Cove, at the bottom of Willes Bay, where she was weather-bound until the 29th of January. The sh.o.r.es of Willes Bay are thickly clothed with wood, growing to the water's edge, except at the S.W. side. The great abundance of muscles and limpets attracts the Indians, whose wigwams {45} were found standing, and from the green appearance of the branches with which they were formed, seemed to have been lately erected. After leaving Willes Bay, the Hope visited Fox Bay, and Sir Edward Owen's Sound, which, it was thought, would lead into Lomas Bay, opposite to Port Famine; but, after running ten miles up, they got into shoal water, and as there was no current, or stream of tide, they landed, and found that a mile and a half farther on, the sound was terminated by low land. Another day, while proceeding along the south side of Brenton Sound, the smoke of Indians' fires was noticed near the beach.

As this was the first time the Natives of this part had been seen, the course was shaped towards them, until the Hope anch.o.r.ed. Three Indians then approached, holding up the skins of some animal, and inviting them to land.

The small boat was hoisted out, and Messrs. Wickham and Rowlett, with Robinson the pilot, went on sh.o.r.e. The Fuegians presented a fox skin to each of the party, who in return gave them some trifles. After a short interview the boat left them, and no further communication was held that night. The following morning a canoe came off to the vessel, containing three young men, two women, and three children, the youngest not more than four months old. They were no sooner alongside than the men went on board, and commenced an active traffic with all the valuables they possessed; and for a few b.u.t.tons, a gla.s.s bottle, or an empty preserved-meat canister, many of their goods were bartered. They had several fox-skins with them, but no other kind of peltry, except their clothing, obtained from the seal or guanaco: and though many of them wore a penguin skin suspended from their girdle, some were without even that covering. This canoe was followed by another, containing an old man, sixty or seventy years of age, with a grey beard; an elderly woman, and two children. Before they came alongside they put their dogs on sh.o.r.e.

Although the visit from these Indians did not last very long, they had time enough to pilfer. One of the young men, who was seen going into a canoe, excited, by his manner, a {46} suspicion of his having stolen something, and a tin pot was found concealed under his mantle. As there was every probability of their soon separating, and Mr. Graves feared that punishment would cause a rupture, he only turned him out of the vessel: the rest soon followed him, and landed. Having made a fire, the men squatted round it; while the women were despatched to collect sh.e.l.l-fish.

As soon as the Natives had finished their meal, they embarked, and proceeded eastward. Next day they again visited the Hope, but in consequence, perhaps, of the occurrence the day before, did not venture alongside, until invited by the words, 'ho-say, ho-say,' which mean, 'come, come.' In a few minutes confidence was restored, and they began to barter.

The trade was opened by one of the women making a peace-offering of a sh.e.l.l necklace, in return for which, red caps and medals were given to each of the women and children. The Hope went thence to Soapsuds Cove, where the crew washed their clothes, and replaced a broken spar.

In a S.E. direction from this cove there appeared to be a considerable channel leading to the S.E., and to the southward was a deep sound, towards which they were proceeding the next morning; but having advanced about two miles, the land of Cape Expectation trended suddenly round to the eastward, and a long narrow channel presented itself, which seemed likely to communicate with the Strait, to the southward of Port San Antonio. They proceeded through this channel, which takes a very straight course, and gradually narrows from Port Waterfall, where it is two miles and a half wide, to Pa.s.sage Cove, where it is scarcely three quarters of a mile; and there they anch.o.r.ed.

Between Port Waterfall and Pa.s.sage Cove, a party of Natives was seen; but, being probably the same who were met at Indian Cove, no attention was paid to their hallooings and fires of invitation.[47] The Hope came into the Strait, eastward of an opening then called Magdalen Sound; her pa.s.sage {47} must therefore have been through Sarmiento's 'San Gabriel' Channel.

At night, when between Cape Froward and Port San Antonio, a heavy squall from S.W. carried the little vessel rapidly towards Cape San Isidro, and, at daylight the next morning, she was in the position observed by us, while ascending Mount Tarn.

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CHAPTER IV.

Deer seen--Hope sails again--Eagle Bay--Gabriel Channel--'Williwaws'-- Port Waterfall--Natives--Admiralty Sound--Gabriel Channel--Magdalen Channel--Hope returns to Port Famine--San Antonio--Lomas Bay--Loss of boat--Master and two seamen drowned.

From Mr. Graves's report of the appearance of the channel to the S.E. of Dawson Island, I decided to proceed there as soon as the Hope was ready, for she required some alteration, and repairs.

A deer having been seen on Point St. Anna, Mr. Tarn landed, very early in the morning, eager for the prize, but could only get an ineffectual shot.

At another time a few deer were seen by our party, near the river; but instead of returning with the information, they fired their guns, loaded with small shot only, which served but to scare them away. As the animal was new to us, and we had evidence of its being equally new to Science, I was anxious to procure a specimen, but never afterwards had an opportunity.

Here Sarmiento saw the only deer which he mentions in his journal.

The morning of the 16th seeming more favourable, I set out in the Hope. The heights were covered with snow which had fallen the preceding night, the thermometer had been at freezing point, and much ice had formed; but the appearance of the weather deceived us: we had scarcely left the ship, when it began to rain, and by the time we reached Cape San Isidro the wind had freshened to a gale, which obliged me to anchor in Eagle Bay.

Having landed, a tent was pitched, and a blazing fire made to dry our clothes. In the evening the gale blew with great {49} violence from S.W., and the Hope, at her anchor, sheered about by the squalls, was occasionally laid over so as to dip her gunwale under water.

The following day (17th), although the rain had ceased, the wind was still strong. Towards evening it fell, and early on the 18th we left Eagle Bay with a fresh breeze from E.N.E., and pa.s.sed close to Port San Antonio; but were then delayed by calms and squalls. At noon a westerly wind sprung up, and we proceeded down the Gabriel Channel, with the wind aft, and the tide in our favour. Port Waterfall sheltered us for the night.

The apparently artificial formation of this channel is very striking. It seems to have been formerly a valley between two ridges of the range, in the direction of the strata (of which there are frequent instances, such as the valley in the Lomas Range, opposite Cape San Isidro, the valley of Valdez Bay, and one immediately to the north of the channel itself, besides many others), and that at some remote period the sea had forced its way through, effecting a communication between the Strait and the waters behind Dawson Island: as if one of those great 'northern waves,' of which we once heard so much, had rolled down the wide reach of the Strait (the parallelism of whose sh.o.r.es is also remarkable) from the north-west, towards Cape Froward; and finding itself opposed by the Lomas Range, had forced a pa.s.sage through the valley until stopped by the mountains at Fitton Bay. Having imagined such a wave in motion, the reader may fancy it uniting with another northern roller from Cape San Valentyn, attacking the hills and carrying all before it, until Mount Hope, at the bottom of Admiralty Sound, arrested its course. I have already noticed the remarkably straight direction in which this curious channel trends. At both extremities the width may be from two to three miles; but the sh.o.r.es gradually approach each other midway, and the coast on each side rises abruptly to the height of fifteen hundred feet. The south sh.o.r.e, sheltered from the prevailing and strongest winds, is thickly covered with trees and luxuriant underwood, which, being chiefly evergreen, improve {50} the scenery greatly, particularly in the winter season: the north sh.o.r.e is also well wooded for about two-thirds up; but the summit is barren and the outline very much serrated, as is usual in slate formations.

On the north sh.o.r.e we noticed some extraordinary effects of the whirlwinds which so frequently occur in Tierra del Fuego. The crews of sealing vessels call them 'williwaws,' or 'hurricane-squalls,' and they are most violent.

The south-west gales, which blow upon the coast with extreme fury, are pent up and impeded in pa.s.sing over the high lands; when, increasing in power, they rush violently over the edges of precipices, expand, as it were, and descending perpendicularly, destroy every thing moveable. The surface of the water, when struck by these gusts, is so agitated, as to be covered with foam, which is taken up by them, and flies before their fury until dispersed in vapour. Ships at anchor under high land are sometimes suddenly thrown over on their beam-ends, and the next moment recover their equilibrium, as if nothing had occurred. Again a squall strikes them, perhaps on the other side, and over they heel before its rage: the cable becomes strained, and checks the ship with a jerk, that causes her to start a-head through the water, until again stopped by the cable, or driven astern by another gust of wind.

At all these anchorages, under high land, there are some parts more exposed than others; and by watching for those places which are least troubled by these squalls, a more secure, or rather a more quiet, spot may be selected.

I do not consider ships so anch.o.r.ed to be in danger if their ground tackle be good; but every thing that offers a stiff resistance must suffer from the fury of these blasts. In many parts of this country trees are torn up by the roots, or rent asunder by the wind; and in the Gabriel Channel the 'williwaws' bursting over the mountainous ridge, which forms the south side of the channel, descend, and striking against the base of the opposite sh.o.r.e, rush up the steep, and carry all before them. I know of nothing to which I can better compare the bared track left by one of these squalls than to a bad broad road. After {51} having made such an opening, the wind frequently sweeping through prevents the growth of vegetation. Confused ma.s.ses of up-rooted trees lie at the lower ends of these bared tracks, and show plainly what power has been exerted.

The southern sh.o.r.e of the channel is formed by the base of that range of hills, which extends, from the eastern side of the Magdalen Channel, towards the E.S.E. It is the highest part of Tierra del Fuego, and on it are several remarkable mountains, besides Sarmiento, towering over all.

Close to the east end of the Gabriel Channel is Mount Buckland, a tall obelisk-like hill, terminating in a sharp needle-point, and lifting its head above a chaotic ma.s.s of 'reliquiae diluvianae,' covered with perpetual snow, by the melting of which an enormous glacier on the leeward, or north-eastern side, has been gradually formed. This icy domain is twelve or fourteen miles long, and extends from near the end of the channel to Port Waterfall, feeding, in the intermediate s.p.a.ce, many magnificent cascades, which, for number and height, are not perhaps to be exceeded in an equal s.p.a.ce of any part of the world. Within an extent of nine or ten miles, there are upwards of a hundred and fifty waterfalls, dashing into the channel from a height of fifteen hundred, or two thousand feet. The course of many is concealed, at first, by intervening trees, and, when half-way down the descent, they burst upon the view, leaping, as it were, out of the wood. Some unite as they fall, and together are precipitated into the sea, in a cloud of foam; so varied, indeed, are the forms of these cascades, and so great their contrast with the dark foliage of the trees, which thickly cover the sides of the mountain, that it is impossible adequately to describe the scene. I have met with nothing exceeding the picturesque grandeur of this part of the Strait.

There are several coves on the south sh.o.r.e, but opposite to them there is no shelter until you reach a deep bay in which are several islets; and where, I think, there is a communication with Brenton Sound, but we did not enter it.

Port Waterfall may easily be known by a large flat-topped bare rock, lying across the summit of the eastern head, and {52} by a magnificent cascade formed by the union of two torrents.

All the plants of the Strait grow here: a sweet-scented Callixene (_C.

marginata_, Lam^k.) filled the air with its odour; and a beautiful flower we had not previously seen, was found by Mr. Graves: it was pendulous, tubular, about two inches long (Cla.s.s. Hexand. Monog. Cal. 2 Pet. 3.

pointed), and of a rich carnation colour.

The trees are small and stunted; they are of the usual species, Beech and Winter's-bark. Here we first noticed a large fern,[48] having a stem two or three feet long, and five or six inches in diameter, very similar to the Zamia of New Holland. We saw very few birds, and no quadrupeds. Among the former was a king-fisher, which at the time was new to us; but it is distributed over a large tract of South America, and I have since seen a specimen said to have been shot at Rio de Janeiro.

Fitton Harbour is a deep inlet, surrounded on all sides by precipitous land, rising to the height of three, or four thousand feet, and terminated by peaks, of most fantastic shape, covered with ice and snow.

Between Fitton Harbour and Cape Rowlett are high mountains, two of which, more conspicuous than the rest, we called 'Mount Sherrard,' and 'Curious Peak.'

Card Point proved to be clay-slate, and I think the projection of Cape Rowlett, and the mountains, are also of this rock.

While crossing over towards Cape Rowlett, (the south head of a deep sound, trending to the S.E., which it was my intention to examine), we were met by three canoes, containing, together, about twenty-four people, and ten or twelve dogs. Mr. Wickham recognised them to be the same party who had visited the Hope on her last cruize; the thief, however, was not amongst them, fearing probably he might be known.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PORT FAMINE

(Looking Northwards).]