of the latter but few, as the dogs of various kinds, greyhounds,
mastifs, pointers, spaniels, and mungrels, have thinned them in the
plains, and driven them to the inaccessible mountains; yet some were
shot by the hunters, and were preferred by them to the best venison.
Among those presented to the Commodore were two or three venerable
through age, that had been marked more than thirty years before by
Selkirk, who trained them for his sport, slit their ears, and turned
them loose to graze the mountains.
I remember we had once an opportunity of observing a remarkable dispute
betwixt a herd of those animals and a number of dogs; for going in our
boat into the eastern bay we perceived some dogs run very eagerly upon
the foot, and being willing to discover what game they were after, we
lay upon our oars some time to view them, and at last saw them take a
hill, where, looking a little farther, we observed upon the ridge of it
an herd of goats, which seemed drawn up for their reception. There was a
very narrow path skirted on each side by precipices, in which the leader
of the herd posted himself fronting the enemy, the rest of the goats
being ranged behind him where the ground was more open; as this spot was
inaccessible by any other path, excepting where this champion had placed
himself, the dogs, though they ran up hill with great alacrity, yet when
they came within about twenty yards, found they durst not encounter this
formidable Goliah, for he would infallibly have driven the first that
approached him down the precipice; they therefore quietly laid
themselves down, panting, and did not offer to stir while we remained in
sight.
These dogs have multiplied prodigiously, and have destroyed most of the
cats as well as goats: the rats, however, keep possession, and were very
troublesome guests in the night, when they generally paid us their
visits. It is not easy to determine in what manner such a multitude of
dogs subsist, as they are much more numerous than all the other
four-footed creatures upon the island. Our people, indeed, were inclined
to think, that they lived in a great measure upon the young sea-lions
and seals, and supported their opinion by the report of the sailors,
some of whom killed the dogs for food, who said they tasted fishy: and,
truly, there is hardly any other way of accounting for the subsistence
of these animals; for, as has been said, they have already destroyed all
the goats in the accessible parts of the country; so that there now
remain only a few among the crags and precipices, where the dogs cannot
follow them. These are divided into separate herds of 20 or 30 each,
which inhabit distinct fastnesses, and never mingle with each other; by
this means we found it extremely difficult to kill them, and yet we were
so desirous of their flesh, that we discovered, I believe, all their
herds, and it was thought, by comparing their numbers, that they
scarcely exceeded 200 upon the whole island. The dogs had destroyed the
pardellas, too, of which former writers have given a large account, so
that there was not one of them to be seen; we found indeed their
boroughs in the earth, which leaves no room to doubt of their being
found in plenty in Selkirk’s time, as well as cats, of which there is
now scarce one alive.
Flesh meat being thus extremely scarce, our people, being tired of fish,
though excellent in their kind, at length condescended to eat seals,
which, by degrees, they came to relish, and called them lamb. Of these,
it being their brooding time, the numbers were incredible;--and likewise
of the sea-lion,--these animals have frequently furious battles among
themselves, principally about their females; and we were one day
surprized by the sight of two animals, which, at first, seemed different
from all we had ever observed; but, on a nearer approach, they proved to
be two sea-lions that had been goring one another with their tushes, and
were covered with blood, with which they plentifully abound. This led us
to watch them more closely, and one was observed larger than the rest,
and from his driving off other males, and keeping a great number of
females to himself, he was by the seamen humorously stiled the Bashaw.
To this pre-eminence, however, he had not arrived without many bloody
contests; for, on our people’s attacking him in the midst of his
seraglio of females, he made a desperate defence, and, when overpowered,
the signals of his bravery appeared in numerous scars on every part of
his body.
We had now been ten days on this island, when some of our people from an
eminence discerned a ship to leeward with her courses even with the
horizon, without any other sail abroad than her main-topsail; from which
circumstance, it was immediately concluded, that it was one of our own
squadron; but the weather being hazy, no definitive conjecture could be
formed concerning her. She again disappeared for some days, and we were
all thrown into the deepest concern, fearing the weakness of her
condition had disabled her from working to windward, and that all her
people had perished.
We continued our employ till the 26th, when we again saw the same ship;
and, on her nearer approach, could distinguish her to be the Gloucester;
and, making no doubt of her being in distress, the Commodore sent our
boat on board her with water and refreshments. We found her in a
miserable condition, not many above 100 people alive, and almost all
those helpless with the scurvy; their water so very short, that they
were obliged to allow but one pint a day to a man; and the continual
flaws off the land, together with their being disabled in their sails
and yards, hindered them from getting into the bay. The next day we sent
them a fresh supply of fish, greens, water, and men to help to work the
ship; soon after which the flaws drove them off again, and the ship
appeared no more till the 30th, when at two in the afternoon she fired a
gun, and made a signal of distress. She continued in this manner off and
on, sometimes in sight, and sometimes not, till July 23, during which
time, though we often relieved the people on board with water and other
necessaries, yet their sufferings were insupportable, and their whole
complement were reduced to about 96 living persons, all of whom must
have perished in a few days more, had not the wind proved favourable to
bring them into the bay; but providentially a fresh gale sprung up from
the sea, and brought them to an anchor. We immediately sent men on board
to assist in mooring the ship, and continued our constant assistance
afterwards, during our stay at this place.
The 5th of August, the Commodore sent the Trial sloop to search the
island of Little Juan Fernandez, lest any of the squadron should have
mistaken that island for the place of rendezvous, and might remain there
in expectation of meeting the rest of the fleet.
On the 16th, the Anne pink, which was separated from us with the rest of
the squadron the 23d of April, appeared in sight. Her arrival gave us
new spirits, she being laden principally with provisions, and we
immediately were ordered full allowance of bread. This ship had been
about two months in a safe harbour, on the main land, near the same
parallel with del Soccoro, where she had been directed by Providence,
and where she lay in security, enjoyed plenty, and her people, 16 in
number, being once freed from their fears of shipwreck, very soon
recovered their wonted vigour, having experienced none of those
hardships that were endured by the rest of the fleet. They told us they
had seen some Indians, and one time took one of their canoes with a man,
a woman, some children, a dog, a cat, &c. and some implements for
fishery; but in a day or two the whole family, the dog excepted, made
their escape from them in the ship’s small boat, and left them their
canoe in her stead. Those Indians, they say, understood a few Spanish
words, and probably might have some little correspondence with the
southern Spaniards of Chili, or their nearer bordering Indians; or,
perhaps, some of the Fathers for propagating the faith may now and then
have been among them. The principal refreshments they met with in this
port, were wild celery, nettletops, and sorrel; cockles and muscles of
an extraordinary size; good store of geese, sheep, and penguins. They
judged it to lie in lat. 45 deg. 30 min. S. and it may be known by an
island which faces it, and which the inhabitants call _Inchin_, and by a
river in which they found excellent fish.
This vessel, the Anne pink, was the last that joined us at Juan
Fernandez. The remaining ships of the squadron were the Severn, the
Pearl, and the Wager store-ship. The Severn and Pearl, as has been
already observed, parted company off Cape Noir, and, as we afterwards
learned, put back to the Brazils; so that of all the ships that came
into the South Seas, the Wager was the only ship that was missing.
Captain Cheap, who commanded her, knowing the importance of the charge
he had in trust, without which no enterprize on shore could be
undertaken, was extremely solicitous to reach Baldivia as the last place
of rendezvous, and the first to be attacked, before the rest of the
squadron should have finished their cruise, that no blame might rest
upon him, if the attack of that city should be judged improper to be
carried into execution. But, whilst this brave officer was exerting
himself in endeavouring to keep clear of the land in making the island
of del Soccoro, he had the misfortune to dislocate his shoulder, and
thereby to disable himself from prosecuting with vigour the purpose he
had in view. The ship being little better than a wreck, the crew in a
miserable desponding condition, the officers quite exhausted, the
weather cold and stormy, and the wind and currents bearing in-shore, all
these unlucky circumstances concurring, so entangled the ship with the
land, that all the efforts of the feeble crew could not prevent her from
running upon a sunken rock, where she grounded between two small
islands, not a musquet-shot from the shore. In this situation she
continued entire till every one on board might have reached the land in
safety, and might have stored themselves with provisions, and every
necessary for their present, subsistence and future escape: but the
moment the ship struck, all subordination ceased; one part of the crew
got possession of the liquors, intoxicated themselves in a beastly
manner, and grew frantic in their cups; another part began to furnish
themselves with arms, and to make themselves masters of the money and
things of most value on board; while the Captain, and some of the
principal officers, endeavoured in vain to maintain their authority, and
to preserve a proper discipline among them, in order to effect the
deliverance of as many as it was possible from the common danger in
which all of them were involved; but the mutinous disposition that
prevailed rendered every effort for their preservation ineffectual.
Those who remained in possession of the ship and her stores, pointed the
cannon, and fired at those who had gained the land; those at land grew
riotous for want of provisions; nothing but anarchy and confusion
prevailed; and, what added to the catastrophe, a midshipman named
Cozens, who had busied himself in opposition to all good government,
was, by the Captain, shot dead upon the spot. This put an end at once to
all manner of subserviency; and after this every one thought himself at
liberty to pursue what scheme he thought best for his own preservation.
Of about 130 persons who reached the shore, 30 died on the place; about
80 others, having converted the long-boat into a schooner, sailed to the
southward, attended by the cutter. These, being distressed for want of
provisions in re-doubling Cape Horn, and having lost their cutter in a
storm, suffered unprecedented hardships in their return to the coast of
Brazil, where only 30 of them arrived to give an account of the
miserable fate of their companions, several of whom died of hunger;
others desired to be set on shore; and some, beginning to be mutinous,
they landed and deserted. Of the 19 who were left behind in Wager-Island
with the Captain, 16 embarked on board the barge and the yawl, and
attempted to escape to the northward; of these one was drowned in the
yawl, and four were left on a desart part of the coast, where it is
probable they all perished; the remaining 11, after a fruitless attempt
to weather a point of land, called by the Spaniards Cape Tresmentes,
were forced to return to Wager Island, from whence they first set out,
where meeting with a Chiloen Indian, who could speak a little Spanish,
they agreed with him to pilot them to Chiloe; but, after coasting along
for four days, the Captain and his officers being on shore, five in
number, the other six persuaded the Indian to put to sea without them,
by which the rest were reduced to the sad necessity of travelling near
600 miles, sometimes by land, and sometimes by water, till at length,
after a variety of misfortunes and hardships not to be parallelled in
romance, four of them, namely, Captain Cheap, the Hon. Mr. Byron, who
lately went round the world, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Campbell, arrived at
Chiloe, where they were received by the Spaniards with great humanity.
After some stay at Chiloe, the Captain and his three officers were sent
to Valparaiso, and thence to St. Jago, the capital of Chili, where they
continued above a year; but on advice of a cartel, the Captain, Mr.
Byron, and Mr. Hamilton, were permitted to return to Europe; and Mr.
Campbell, who in the mean time had changed his religion, chose to embark
for Spain; but not meeting there with the encouragement he expected, he
soon after returned to England, where he published an account of his
adventures, but mentioned not a word of changing his religion, neither
does he assign his reason for leaving Spain.
It is very remarkable, that the place where the Wager struck upon the
rock, was so near the harbour where the Anne pink found shelter during
the winter, that the Wager’s people were within hearing of the pink’s
evening and morning gun, yet never had the thought to follow the sound,
or to look out for any straggler from their own squadron.
On the 22d, the Trial arrived from searching the island of Little
Fernandez, and reported that it lies about 20 leagues due west from this
where we lay; that it is about three leagues in compass, being very
mountainous, with some woods and good runs of water, with multitudes of
goats, fish, sea-lions, and seals, as with us; but no ships were to be
seen, nor any marks of any having been there.
While we continued at Juan Fernandez, besides our necessary employments,
we likewise began, and pretty far advanced, a wharf for the better
landing and embarking such necessaries as we had occasion for. We kept
two ovens employed in baking bread for the ships companies, two smith’s
forges for repairing old and fitting new iron-work, and made abundance
of charcoal for future use. The Commodore likewise ordered the
carpenters to take a careful survey of the Anne pink, the master of
which set forth, that she was in so rotten a condition, as not to be fit
to proceed nor return without very considerable repairs; which
representation upon a survey being found to be true, the Commodore
purchased her materials at a fair valuation, and ordered her to be broke
up, and her crew to be put on board the Gloucester, that ship not having
hands enough left to navigate her, much less to fight her, in case of an
attack from the enemy.
This island lies in latitude 33 deg. 40 min. S. and longitude 87 deg. 37
min. W. from London; distance from the main continent 105 leagues;
compass, by the best accounts of those who had been round it, 12 or 13
leagues. There are two small and very commodious bays within the points,
which form the large one where we lay, one to the eastward, the other to
the westward of us, and no doubt several others in other parts of the
island; variation, by an observation July 2, in the morning, 8 deg. 4.
min. half E. ’Twas reported, that the S. W. end of the island is much
more flat and level than that where we resided, and the goats more
numerous, but wood scarcer.
On Tuesday, Sept. the 8th, at noon, we saw a sail at sea bearing N. E.
by E. and, perceiving by our glasses that she could be none of our
squadron, nor an English-built ship, we fired a gun as a signal for
getting all our people on board; and, having taken several men out of
the Trial, bent our sails, set up our rigging, and slipt our small bower
cable, at six in the evening we weighed in pursuit of her. In the
morning of the next day we got down our stumps, which are generally set
up in bad weather instead of top-gallant masts, and in their place got
up our top-gallant masts and yards, rigged them, and bent their sails.
At eleven the same morning we mustered and quartered the ship’s company.
At noon the island of Juan Fernandez bore W. half S. distance eight
leagues; the two next days we saw nothing of the chace, nor any thing
remarkable.
Saturday, Sept. 12, at five in the morning we saw a sail to windward,
which bore down towards us, and at about two leagues distance she hawled
up the lee clue-garnet of her foresail, shewed her Spanish colours, and
fired a gun, which we supposed to be a signal concerted between her and
others which came out in company with her; but we not answering nor
regarding it, she hauled close on a wind and stood from us, endeavouring
to escape; upon which we gave chace, and it proving sometimes hazy and
foggy, we were in danger of losing sight of her. About nine in the
morning we tacked, and at noon coming within gun shot, we fired five
shot at her rigging to bring her to; but she keeping on her course, we
fired four more, on which she struck her colours, and surrendered
without making any opposition. This ship happened not to be the same we
went out after. She proved a rich merchant-ship, having on board
18,000l. sterling in dollars and plate, with some jewels, and abundance
of gold and silver twist; but the bulk of her cargo consisted in sugars
and bale goods, most of the latter European, but some the produce of the
country. She was called the Nuestra Senora del Monte Carmelo. She was of
about 500 tons, was commanded by Don Manuel Zamorra, and had on board 13
passengers, most of them persons of fortune, amongst whom was the son of
the Governor of the city of St. Jago, the capital of Chili. She came
from Callao, a port of Lima, the capital of the empire of Peru, bound
for Valparaiso in Chili, where those ships annually trade, exchanging
silver in return for gold and corn, the latter being very scarce in
Peru. Some of the prisoners informed us, that, if we had taken her in
her return from Chili to Peru, we should have met with as much gold in
her as we had now found silver. She had in the whole a-board her 67
persons, many of them Indians and black slaves, who were afterwards very
useful to us in assisting towards the ship’s duty. She had been 27 days
from Callao, and wanted not above two days sail to compleat her voyage
when we took her.
We found in this ship, on search among the letters from some merchants
in Lima to their friends in Chili, an account of the fate of the Spanish
squadron which had been sent after us, viz. that, in attempting to pass
the Cape, they had been forced to put back, after encountering the most
terrible storms and most pressing famine, being reduced to two ounces of
bread and half a pint of water each man a day; that, besides being
grievously attacked by the scurvy, which had made greater havock among
them than among us, their ships were almost entirely disabled, their
masts, sails, yards, rigging and hulls in a manner shattered and torn to
pieces; that Admiral Pisarro, and one more of his squadron, after having
suffered the greatest extremities, had got, with the utmost difficulty,
to Buenos Ayres, on the River Plate; that another of the squadron, a
ship of 70 guns, had been entirely lost near Rio Grande, and that two
more had never been heard of; that on their return they had seen two
large ships pass by very near them, which they supposed to be two ships
of our squadron, but the weather proving stormy, and the sea running
mountains high, they could not interfere with or attack each other.
Those ships of ours we believed to be the Severn and the Pearl, and
hoped they were safely arrived at some port of the Brazils. Those
letters came over land from Buenos Ayres to Lima, and with them came
others containing Admiral Pisarro’s advice and instructions to the
Viceroy of Peru concerning us; wherein he told him, that, though he
himself had been forced back in such a miserable condition, not having
above 80 or 100 of his men living, and his ships in so ill a state,
that, till sufficient reinforcements could come to him from Old Spain,
he could not possibly come into those seas, yet as the English were a
stubborn and resolute people, and daring enough to persist obstinately
in the most desperate undertakings, he did believe some of us might
possibly get round; but as he experimentally knew what of necessity we
must have suffered in that dreadful passage, he made no doubt but we
should be in a very weak and defenceless condition; he therefore advised
the Viceroy to fit out all the strength of shipping he could, and send
them to cruise at the island of Juan Fernandez, where we must of
necessity touch to refresh our people, and to repair our ships; and
farther advised, that, in case of meeting us, they should not stand to
fight or cannonade at a distance, in which possibly we might have the
advantage, or make our escape, but should board us at once sword in
hand; which must, if well executed, in our weak condition, infallibly
prove the means of taking us.
This was a well-laid scheme, and in pursuance of it the Viceroy equipt
three ships at Callao, one of 50, one of 30, and one of 20 guns, all
double manned with the choicest men they could possibly procure, and
sent them to wait for us accordingly. Those ships arrived at Juan
Fernandez some time, I think, in May, and continued till about June the
6th, when, imagining that we must be either put back or lost, they
quitted their station, and sailed for the port of Conception in Chili,
and by this means we luckily missed them: had it happened otherwise, as
we arrived there with only our single ship, in such a defenceless
condition, and had they put their orders in execution with any tolerable
degree of resolution, we must in all human probability have fallen into
their hands.
Our prisoners informed us further, that those ships, during their
cruise, had met with a storm, in which they had received so much damage,
that it must be at least two months before they could again be fit to go
to sea. The whole of this intelligence was as favourable as we could
have wished; and now we were at no loss to account for the fresh marks
we found at Juan Fernandez, of that island’s having been lately visited
by some white people.
Sunday the 13th, having got on board most of the prisoners of note, and
all the silver, we made sail for Juan Fernandez; and the weather proving
very moderate, at six in the evening that island bore N. W. by N. at the
distance of five leagues. At three the next morning we fired three guns,
as a signal to the ships in the bay. At four we anchored, got in our
small bower cable, which we had slipped at leaving the place, and moored
our ship.
The 15th we employed in watering, and setting up our rigging, in order
to pursue our voyage. And this day, the Commodore being informed that
several merchant-ships were now pursuing their trade without fear of any
surprize, the Trial was ordered out on a cruise, and proceeded
immediately.
The 16th we got up a new top-gallant-mast, and wanting some cordage we
were supplied with it from the Gloucester. This and the following days,
until the 19th, we spent in getting every thing ready for sea with the
utmost expedition.