Anchor in Berkeley Sound--Le Magellan--British flag hoisted--Ruined
Settlement--Mr. Hellyer drowned--Burial--French Whalers--Unicorn
--Adventure--Squall--Flashes--Fossils--Killing Wild Cattle--Sail
from Falklands--River Negro--Maldonado--Constitucion--Heave down,
copper, and refit Adventure--Signs of weather--Sound banks--Los
Cesares--Settle with Harris, and part company--Blanco Bay--Return
to Maldonado--Monte Video.
March 1. The Beagle anchored at the south side of Berkeley Sound
(near the beach where Freycinet was obliged to run l’Uranie ashore,
in 1820, after striking on the detached rock off Volunteer Point),
and remained there till I had ascertained the state of affairs on
shore: for seeing a French flag flying near some tents behind Johnson
Cove or harbour, and knowing that, in 1831, the flag of Buenos Ayres
was hoisted at a settlement in the sound, it was evident a change of
some kind had occurred. Directly our anchor had dropped, a whale-boat
belonging to the wrecked whale-ship, ‘Le Magellan,’ came alongside;
and from her chief mate (who was also whaling-master), we learned
that his ship had parted from her anchors during a tremendous squall
on the night of the 12th of January, and was totally wrecked. He
then informed me that the British colours had been hoisted on these
islands by H.M.S. Clio; and that H.M.S. Tyne had since visited the
port and saluted the flag; that the white flag was hoisted at the
French tents only as a signal to us; and that he was sent by M. le
Dilly, his captain, to entreat us to render them assistance. Two of
our boats were forthwith manned; one was sent to the settlement at
Port Louis, and in the other I went to the Frenchmen at Johnson Cove.
I found them very comfortably established in large tents made from
the sails of their lost ship; but they manifested extreme impatience
to get away from the islands, even at the risk of abandoning the
vessel and cargo. After due inquiry, I promised to carry as many of
them as I could to Monte Video, and to interest myself in procuring
a passage for the rest.
Their ship was lying upon a sandy beach, one bilge stove in, and
her hold full of sand and water; but as there was no surf, and at
high spring-tide the sea rose only to her deck, all the stores
and provisions, if not the ship herself, might have been saved by
energetic application of proper means soon after she was stranded.
When I saw her it was not too late, but I had too many urgent duties
to fulfil to admit of my helping those who would not help themselves.
Returning on board, I met Mr. Chaffers, who had been to Port
Louis, and heard that there was no constituted authority whatever
resident on the islands, but that the British flag had been left by
Captain Onslow in charge of an Irishman, who had been Mr. Vernet’s
storekeeper. This man at first declined answering Mr. Chaffers’s
questions, because his uniform buttons were (as he thought) different
from those of the Tyne’s officers; however, being a simple character,
he soon became more loquacious than was wished. He told Mr. Chaffers
that he was ordered to ‘hoist the flag up and _down_’ when vessels
arrived, and every Sunday: that there was ‘plenty of beef,’ and as
for rabbits and geese, only the ‘poor people eat them.’
2d. Weighed and shifted our berth to Johnson Cove. 3d. We got on
board all the new rope, bread, salt meat, and small stores, which the
Frenchmen had saved and wished us to embark for the benefit of their
owners. Meanwhile, surveying operations were begun, and an officer
despatched to the settlement, who informed me of the arrival of a
merchant schooner (Rapid), fourteen days from Buenos Ayres, with Mr.
Brisbane on board (as Vernet’s agent as well as partner), who was
delighted to meet our officer, finding in him one of those who helped
to save his life when wrecked in the Saxe Cobourg in 1827.
No sooner had Mr. Brisbane landed than the master and crew of the
Rapid hastened to make themselves drunk, as an indemnification for
the fatigues of their exceedingly long and hazardous voyage: and in
that state they were found by the Beagle’s officer. Next morning
Brisbane came on board with his papers, and I was quite satisfied
with their tenor, and the explanation which he gave me of his
business. Some misapprehension having since arisen about his being
authorized by Vernet to act in his stead, I may here mention again
(though no longer of any material consequence), that Brisbane’s
instructions from Vernet authorized him to act as his private agent
only, to look after the remains of his private property, and that
they had not the slightest reference to civil or military authority.
This settled, I went to Port Louis, but was indeed disappointed.
Instead of the cheerful little village I once anticipated finding--a
few half-ruined stone cottages; some straggling huts built of turf;
two or three stove boats; some broken ground where gardens had
been, and where a few cabbages or potatoes still grew; some sheep
and goats; a few long-legged pigs; some horses and cows; with here
and there a miserable-looking human being,--were scattered over the
fore-ground of a view which had dark clouds, ragged-topped hills, and
a wild waste of moorland to fill up the distance.
“How is this?” said I, in astonishment, to Mr. Brisbane; “I thought
Mr. Vernet’s colony was a thriving and happy settlement. Where
are the inhabitants? the place seems deserted as well as ruined.”
“Indeed, Sir, it was flourishing,” said he, “but the Lexington ruined
it: Captain Duncan’s men did such harm to the houses and gardens. I
was myself treated as a pirate--rowed stern foremost on board the
Lexington--abused on her quarter-deck most violently by Captain
Duncan--treated by him more like a wild beast than a human being--and
from that time guarded as a felon, until I was released by order
of Commodore Rogers.” “But,” I said, “where are the rest of the
settlers? I see but half a dozen, of whom two are old black women;
where are the gauchos who kill the cattle?” “Sir, they are all in the
country. They have been so much alarmed by what has occurred, and
they dread the appearance of a ship of war so much, that they keep
out of the way till they know what she is going to do.” I afterwards
interrogated an old German, while Brisbane was out of sight, and
after him a young native of Buenos Ayres, who both corroborated
Brisbane’s account.[1]
At my return on board, I was shocked by the sad information that
Mr. Hellyer was drowned. He had walked about a mile along the shore
of a creek near the ship, with one of the Frenchmen, who then left
him[2] (having recollected that he would be wanted for a particular
purpose). Mr. Hellyer, anxious to shoot some ducks of a kind he had
not before seen, walked on with his gun, saying he would return in
half an hour.
About an hour after this, the capataz of the gauchos, Jean Simon by
name, riding towards the French tents to learn the news, saw clothes,
a gun, and a watch, lying by the water side; but, as no person was in
sight, he thought they must have belonged to some one in the boats
which were surveying, so rode on quietly; and not until another hour
had elapsed, did he even casually mention to the Frenchmen what he
had seen. They, of course, were instantly alarmed and hastened to
the spot, with those of our party who were within reach. Some rode
or ran along the shore, while others pulled in whale-boats to the
fatal spot, and there, after much searching, the body was discovered
under water, but so entangled by kelp that it could not be extricated
without cutting away the weed. Mr. Bynoe was one of those who found
it, and every means that he and the French surgeon could devise for
restoring animation was tried in vain. A duck was found dead in the
kelp not far from the body, and his gun was lying on the beach,
discharged, with which the bird had been shot.
To me this was as severe a blow as to his own messmates; for Mr.
Hellyer had been much with me, both as my clerk and because I liked
his company, being a gentlemanly, sensible young man. I also felt
that the motive which urged him to strip and swim after the bird he
had shot, was probably a desire to get it for my collection. Being
alone and finding the water cold, he may have become alarmed, then
accidentally entangling his legs in the sea-weed, lost his presence
of mind, and by struggling hastily was only more confused. The rising
tide must have considerably augmented his distress, and hastened the
fatal result.
5th. This day we buried the body of our lamented young friend, on a
rising ground near Johnson Cove, in sight of our ship. All the French
attended the melancholy ceremony, as well as all our own party,
excepting the very few who were obliged to stay on board.
6th. An agreement was brought about, and witnessed by me, between M.
le Dilly and the master of the Rapid schooner, by which the latter
bound himself to convey to Monte Video those of the Magellan’s crew
whom the Beagle could not carry: and next day another French whaler
arrived (the fourth we had lately seen), belonging to the owners of
the Magellan, so there was no longer any want of help for M. le Dilly.
A few days afterwards a sealing schooner, the Unicorn, arrived,
Mr. William Low being sealing master and part owner; and, although
considered to be the most enterprizing and intelligent sealer
on those shores, perhaps anywhere, the weather had been so much
against him that he returned from his six months’ cruise a ruined
man, with an empty ship. All his means had been employed to forward
the purchase and outfit of the fine vessel in which he sailed; but
having had, as he assured me, a continued succession of gales during
sixty-seven days, and, taking it altogether, the worst season he had
known during twenty years’ experience, he had been prevented from
taking seal, and was ruined. Passengers with him were the master and
crew of a North American sealing schooner, the Transport, which had
been wrecked on the south-west coast of Tierra del Fuego, in Hope
Harbour; and he told me of two other wrecks, all occasioned by the
gale of January 12-13th.
At this time I had become more fully convinced than ever that the
Beagle could not execute her allotted task before she, and those in
her, would be so much in need of repair and rest, that the most
interesting part of her voyage--the carrying a chain of meridian
distances around the globe--must eventually be sacrificed to the
tedious, although not less useful, details of coast surveying.
Our working ground lay so far from ports at which supplies could
be obtained, that we were obliged to occupy whole months in making
passages merely to get provisions, and then overload our little
vessel to a most inconvenient degree, as may be supposed, when I say
that eight months’ provisions was our usual stock at starting, and
that we sailed twice with ten months’ supply on board.[3]
I had often anxiously longed for a consort, adapted for carrying
cargoes, rigged so as to be easily worked with few hands, and able
to keep company with the Beagle; but when I saw the Unicorn, and
heard how well she had behaved as a sea-boat, my wish to purchase
her was unconquerable. A fitter vessel I could hardly have met
with, one hundred and seventy tons burthen, oak built, and copper
fastened throughout, very roomy, a good sailer, extremely handy, and
a first-rate sea-boat; her only deficiencies were such as I could
supply, namely, a few sheets of copper, and an outfit of canvas and
rope. A few days elapsed, in which she was surveyed very carefully
by Mr. May, and my mind fully made up, before I decided to buy her,
and I then agreed to give six thousand dollars (nearly £1,300) for
immediate possession. Being part owner, and authorized by the other
owners to do as he thought best with the vessel in case of failure,
Mr. Low sold her to me, payment to be made into his partners’ hands
at Monte Video. Some of his crew being ‘upon the lay,’ that is,
having agreed to be paid for their work by a small proportion of
the cargo obtained, preferred remaining at the Falklands to seek
for employment in other vessels, others procured a passage in the
Rapid, and a few were engaged by me to serve in their own vessel
which, to keep up old associations, I named ‘Adventure.’ Mr. Chaffers
and others immediately volunteered to go in her temporarily (for
I intended to place Mr. Wickham in her if he should be willing to
undertake the responsibility), and no time was lost in cleaning
her out thoroughly, loading her with stores purchased by me from
M. le Dilly and from Mr. Bray (lately master of the Transport),
and despatching her to Maldonado, to be prepared for her future
employment.
This schooner was built at Rochester as a yacht for Mr. Perkins, and,
as I have reason to believe, cost at least six thousand pounds in
building and first outfit. Soon afterwards, she was armed and used
by Lord Cochrane in the Mediterranean; then she was fitted out by
a merchant to break the blockade of Buenos Ayres; but, taken by a
Brazilian man-of-war, and carried into Monte Video, she was condemned
as a prize and sold to Mr. Hood, the British Consul, who went to
England and back again in her with his family; after which, she was
fitted out for the sealing expedition I have mentioned. At the time
of my purchase she was in want of a thorough refit, and her internal
arrangements required alteration; but it happened that Mr. Bray and
M. le Dilly had each saved enough from their respective vessels to
enable me to load the Adventure on the spot with all that she would
require; from the former I bought anchors, cables, and other stores,
amounting to £216: and from M. le Dilly rope, canvas, and small
spars, for which £187 were paid. Those who were conversant in such
matters, the master, boatswain, and carpenter of the Beagle, as well
as others, assured me that these articles were thus obtained for less
than a third of their market prices in frequented ports.
While the Beagle lay in Johnson Cove, we witnessed a memorable
instance of the strength with which squalls sometimes sweep across
the Falklands. Our ship was moored with a cable each way in a
land-locked cove, not a mile across, and to the south-westward of
her, three cables’ length distant, was a point of land which, under
ordinary circumstances, would have protected her from sea, if not
from wind. Our largest boat, the yawl, was moored near our eastern
anchor, with a long scope of small chain. At six in the evening
of a stormy day (10th March), the wind increased suddenly from
the strength of a fresh gale to that of a hurricane, and in a few
minutes the Beagle brought both anchors ahead, and was pitching her
forecastle into the sea. Top-gallant-masts were on deck, and yards
braced sharp up all day; but we were obliged to let go a third
anchor, and even then had some anxiety for the result. Till this
squall came, the water had been smooth, though of course covered with
white crests (‘horses’); but it was then changed into a short sea,
such as I should have been slow to believe wind could have raised
in that confined cove. The yawl, an excellent sea-boat, and quite
light, was swamped at her moorings; but I think that the chief cause
of her filling was a quantity of kelp which drifted athwart hawse and
hindered her rising easily to the sea.
During the month we remained in Berkeley Sound, I had much trouble
with the crews of whaling or small sealing vessels, as well as with
the settlers, who all seemed to fancy that because the British flag
was re-hoisted on the Falklands, they were at liberty to do what
they pleased with Mr. Vernet’s private property, as well as with the
wild cattle and horses. The gauchos wished to leave the place, and
return to the Plata, but as they were the only useful labourers on
the islands, in fact, the only people on whom any dependance could
be placed for a regular supply of fresh beef, I interested myself as
much as possible to induce them to remain, and with partial success,
for seven staid out of twelve.
While walking the deck after dark, I sometimes saw flashes of
light on the distant hills, which it was difficult to account for
as ‘ignes fatui,’ because they were seen only on the heights, and
momentarily, long intervals intervening between each faint flash. I
once remarked similar instantaneous glimpses of feeble light, like
the flashing of a distant pistol, near Pecket Harbour, in Magalhaens
Strait, during a rainy night, but on the hills, at the south side
of Berkeley Sound, I witnessed such lights repeatedly. They were
never bright or lasting--merely a faint sudden glimmer--exactly as
I have said, like the flash of a pistol, fired at a great distance.
It has since occurred to me, that the phosphoric light spoken of
by Bougainville in the following passage may be of a nature similar
to that which I saw, and that those momentary flashes might have
been caused by the occasional fall of stones among ravines, near
the summits of hills. “Des voyages entrepris jusqu’ au sommet des
montagnes (pour chercher des calcaires), n’en (de pierre) ont fait
voir que d’une nature de quartz et de grès non friable, produisant
des étincelles, et même une lumière phosphorique, accompagnée d’une
odeur sulphureuse.”--(Bougainville, Voyage autour du Monde, 1766-69,
tome I., p. 100).
The shattered state of most summits of mountains in these regions[4]
has often struck me, many of them being mere heaps of rocks and
stones, over which it is extremely difficult to climb. Mount Skyring
may be cited as one remarkable instance; there, the stones gave out
a very sulphureous smell when struck together, and were strongly
magnetic.[5] Lightning, electricity, and magnetism being intimately
related, one is led to think that, if the above conjecture is
incorrect, there may be some connexion between these sudden glimpses
of faint light and the transmission of the electric fluid. This much
I am certain of, that they were not lights made by man, and that they
were different from the will-o’-the-wisp, or ignis fatuus.
My own employment obliged me to remain near the ship, but some of
the officers made excursions into the interior, and to them and Mr.
Brisbane I am indebted for most of the following notices of these
islands.
Some very large bones were seen a long way from the sea-shore, and
some hundred feet above the level of high water, near St. Salvador
Bay. How they got there had often puzzled Mr. Vernet, and Brisbane
also, who had examined them with attention; Brisbane told me they
were whale’s bones.[6] The rocky summits of all the hills are
amazingly broken up, like those of far higher elevations in Tierra
del Fuego, and the fragments--some very large--have rolled down
the nearest ravines, so that they look like the beds of dried-up
torrents. The sand-stone, which is abundant, offers beautifully
perfect impressions of shells, many of which were brought to England.
In these fossils the minutest portions of delicate shells are
preserved, as in a plaster of Paris cast, though the stone is now
very hard. There are fine stalactites in some large caverns, but they
are known only to a few sealers. The large muscles produce pearls of
considerable size, though inferior quality, perhaps; Mr. Brisbane
had a small bottle full. In one of the cottages I saw a heap of good
whale-bone, and was informed that some hundred pounds worth had been
picked up on the coasts, and sold to whalers for a tenth part of its
European value, in exchange for clothes, spirits, ammunition, and
biscuit. On West Falkland there are beautiful pebbles, and on the
heights fine crystals have been found.
Although the climate is so much colder than that of Buenos Ayres,
the gauchos sleep in the open air, when in the interior, under their
saddles, just as they do in the latitude of 35°. While idling at the
settlement they gamble, quarrel, and fight with long knives, giving
each other severe wounds. With their loose ponchos, slouched hats,
long hair, dark complexions, and Indian eyes, they are characters
fitter for the pencil of an artist than for the quiet hearth of an
industrious settler. Besides these gauchos, we saw five Indians
(p. 267), who had been taken by the Buenos Ayrean troops, or their
allies, and allowed to leave prison on condition of going with
Mr. Vernet to the Falklands. Including the crews of some thirty
whale-ships, hovering about or at anchor among the islands; the men
of several American vessels, all armed with rifles; the English
sealers with their clubs, if not also provided with rifles; these
cut-throat looking gauchos; the discontented, downcast Indian
prisoners, and the crews of several French whalers--who could not
or would not see why they had not as good a right to the islands as
Englishmen--there was no lack of the elements of discord; and it was
with a heavy heart and gloomy forebodings that I looked forward to
the months which might elapse without the presence of a man-of-war,
or the semblance of any regular authority.
Our tender, the Adventure, sailed on the 4th of April, under the
charge of Mr. Chaffers, who was desired to call off the River Negro,
and thence go to Maldonado, moor his vessel close to Gorriti Island,
land every thing, and commence her thorough refit.
About this time one of the officers went to see some wild cattle
taken. After riding far beyond the hills seen from Port Louis, a
black speck was discerned in the distance--instantly the three
gauchos stopped, adjusted their saddle-gear, lassoes, and balls,
and then cantered off in different directions. While stopping,
my shipmate saw that the black spot moved and doubled its size.
Directly afterwards, he perceived five other black things, and
taking it for granted they were cattle, asked no questions of his
taciturn, though eager, companions, but watched their movements and
galloped on with the capataz (Jean Simon), the other two making a
détour round some hills. Having got down wind of the herd, Simon
slackened his pace, and, lying along his horse’s back, gradually
ascended a slight eminence, beyond which the cattle were feeding.
For a moment he stopped to look round:--there was a monstrous bull
within a hundred yards of him; three hundred yards further, were
about twenty cows; and in a valley beyond, was a large herd of wild
cattle. Just then the heads of the other two men were seen a quarter
of a mile on one side, also to leeward of the cattle, which were
still feeding unsuspiciously. With a sudden dash onwards, such as
those horses are trained to make, Simon was within twenty yards of
the overgrown, but far from unwieldy brute, before he could ‘get way
on.’ Whirling the balls around his head, Simon hurled them so truly
at the bull’s fore-legs, that down he came, with a blow that made
the earth tremble, and rolled over and over. Away went Simon at full
gallop after a fine cow; and at the same time, each of the other men
were in full chase of their animals. The herd galloped off almost
as fast as horses; but in a few moments, another bull was bellowing
in impotent rage, and two cows were held tightly by lassoes--one
being caught by Simon alone, and the other by his two companions.
One of the men jumped off, and fastened his cow’s legs together so
securely, that she could only limp along a few inches at a time; his
horse meanwhile keeping the second lasso tight, as effectually as
if his master had been on his back. Both lassoes were then shaken
off, and one thrown over Simon’s cow, which had been trying in all
kinds of ways to escape from or gore her active enemy, who--go which
way she would--always kept the lasso tight; and often, by checking
her suddenly, half overset and thoroughly frightened her. Leaving
his horse as soon as the cow was secure, Simon hamstrung the bulls,
and left them where they fell, roaring with pain and rage. He then
remounted, and all four cantered back towards the ‘estancia’ (or
farm), where the tame cattle are kept. Simon was asked to kill the
poor brutes before he left them; but he shook his head, with a sneer,
and remarked, that their hides would come off easier next day! At
daybreak, the following morning, half-a-dozen tame cattle were driven
out to the place of slaughter, and with them the frightened and
already half-tamed cows (which had been left tied in a place where
they had nothing to eat), were easily driven in to the farm. The
two bulls were at last killed, skinned, cut up, and the best parts
of their carcases carried to the settlement. The hides of those two
animals weighed seventy-three and eighty-one pounds.
Speaking to Simon myself one day about the indiscriminate slaughter
of cattle which I had heard took place occasionally, he told me that
the gauchos used sometimes to kill them for their tongues only, and,
perhaps, a steak or two, for ‘asado’ (meat roasted on a stick),
without taking the trouble to skin them; being too great epicures in
their way to feast twice upon the same animal.
In 1834, while surveying the sea-coast of these islands, in the
Adventure, Lieutenant Wickham, Mr. Low, and Mr. Johnson had many
a bull hunt; but though there was as much or more risk in their
encounters, being on foot, with rifles, assisted only by a good dog,
their adventures were individually rather than generally interesting.
They used to land in unfrequented harbours, very near herds of wild
cattle or horses, creep quietly along behind tussac or bushes, till
they got within rifle-shot, take good aim at the fattest, and after
firing, do their best to kill the animal, in general only wounded
by a first shot. They had an excellent dog, who always seized the
creatures by the lower lip, and diverted their attention from Mr.
Johnson or Low, who otherwise might have lost their lives, on more
than two occasions.
The report of a gun usually alarmed the whole herd of cows, and off
they went at a gallop; but the lordly bulls were not to be hurried,
they would stand and face their enemies, often charge them; when a
precipitate retreat behind a rock, or to the boat, or across a boggy
place, which the bull would not try, was the only resource, if their
hardy dog was not by, to seize the angry animal, and give time for a
well-directed shot. In those excursions, also, while ashore at night
in small tents, the foxes used to plague them continually, poking
their unpleasant heads into the opening of the tent (while the man on
watch was by the fire), stealing their provisions, and breaking their
rest, after a fatiguing day’s work. What with the foxes, the wild
bulls, and the wild horses, it is thoroughly unsafe for a person to
walk alone about the unfrequented parts of the Falkland Islands--even
with the best weapons for self-defence against either man or beast.
Several unfortunate people have been missed there, who wandered away
from their parties.
April 6.--Having embarked M. le Dilly, with some of his officers
and crew, and lumbered our little ship with the spars and stores
purchased from him, we sailed from the Falklands. Our passage
to within sight of the river Negro was short, though stormy,
a south-east gale driving us before it, under a close-reefed
fore-topsail. As the sea ran high, it might have been more prudent to
have ‘hove-to;’ but time was precious, and our vessel’s qualities as
a sea-boat, scudding as well as ‘by the wind,’ were well known.
Early on the 12th, we were off the river Negro; but baffling winds
and a heavy swell (raised by the late gale), prevented our anchoring
near the bar, or sending in a boat.
Soon after noon on the 14th, while standing off and on, waiting for
the swell to go down, and allow of a boat crossing the bar, a sail
seen in the horizon was made out to be the Adventure. We steered
for and spoke her, found all well, sent her on to Maldonado, and
again stood towards the bar. Our tender, as I mentioned, sailed from
Berkeley Sound on the 4th; but was obliged to heave-to during the
gale in which we were able to scud.
Next day (15th), a decked boat, like the Paz, with some difficulty
crossed the bar, and brought me letters from Lieutenant Wickham, by
which I learned that he and his party had sailed from the river,
intending to visit the Gulf of San Matias, only a few days before we
arrived, having previously examined all the coast, from Port Desire
to Valdes Creek.[7] I was sorry to hear that Corporal Williams, a
very worthy man, in every sense of the words, had been drowned in
the river Negro. Williams had been in two polar voyages, and under
Captain King, in H.M.S. Adventure, from 1825 to 1830. The rest of
the party were well, and making rapid progress with their task.
Wind favouring, we made all sail for the Bay of San José, hoping
to meet the little vessels under Lieutenant Wickham, but could not
find them;[8] so concluding that they had run further south than was
intended at their departure from the Negro, we steered out of the
Gulf of San Matias, and made sail for the Plata.
At daylight on the 26th, land was seen near Maldonado, and at two,
we anchored off Monte Video. In a few hours the French passengers
were landed; next day our anchor was again weighed, and at noon on
the 28th we moored the Beagle in Maldonado Bay, close to the little
island of Gorriti. Our tender, the Adventure, had arrived on the 23d.
My thoughts were at this time occupied by arrangements connected
with her, besides the usual routine observations. I was extremely
anxious to fit the schooner properly, and to set her to work, but at
the same time to keep all our other operations in active progress. A
decked boat was lying in Maldonado, just built, which her owner, Don
Francisco Aguilar, offered to lend me for two months, if I would rig
her for him, and this proposal exactly suited my views, as it would
enable me to send for Lieutenant Wickham, and supply his place by Mr.
Usborne, leaving Mr. Stokes to continue the survey about San Blas and
the Colorado. Accordingly, the Constitucion, as this little craft
was named by her owner, was hauled alongside, and Mr. Usborne with a
party, set to work in preparing her for a trip to the River Negro. On
the 1st May Mr. Usborne sailed, having with him Mr. Forsyth and five
men; he was to go to the River Negro, join and assist Mr. Stokes, and
inform Lieutenant Wickham that he was wanted at Maldonado, to take
charge of the Adventure. The Constitucion was about the size of the
Liebre, a craft I should hardly have thought fit for such a voyage
had I not heard so much from Mr. Harris and his companion, Roberts,
of the capital weather those decked boats make in a gale. With their
hatches secured, tiller unshipped, a storm try-sail--or no sail at
all set, and nobody on deck, they tumble about like hollow casks,
without caring for wind or sea.
Next day (2d) the Beagle returned to Monte Video, to procure
carpenters, plank, and copper for the Adventure. I found that she
was so fine a vessel, and so sound, that it was well worth while to
copper her entirely afresh, with a view to her future operations
among islands in the Pacific, where worms would soon eat through
places on a vessel’s bottom from which sheets of copper had been torn
away. At this time the Adventure’s copper was complete, but thin,
and as the carpenters said it would not last above two years more
with certainty, I determined to copper her forthwith, and make one
substantial refit do for all. Here, to my great regret, Mr. Hamond
decided to return to England,[9] and we consequently lost a valuable
member of our small society.
On the 17th, having engaged men and purchased plank, copper,
provisions and other necessaries, we sailed from Monte Video,
and next morning anchored in Maldonado. As soon as a part of our
cargo was landed--all that was then wanted by the working party
on Gorriti, under Mr. Chaffers--we proceeded up the river to fill
water, anchored again off Monte Video for a short time, and returned
to our future consort at Gorriti (24th). Preparations were then
commenced for heaving the schooner down to copper her. We hauled
her alongside, and on the 28th hove her ‘keel out,’ for a few
hours, and righted her again at dark. While standing on her keel,
examining the state of her copper and planking, I saw a sail in the
offing, which was soon made out to be the Constitucion, and just
after we righted the schooner Lieut. Wickham came alongside. He
brought good tidings--without drawback--and those who know what it
is to feel anxiety for the safety of friends whose lives are risked
by their willingness to follow up the plans of their commanding
officer--however critical those plans may be--will understand my
sensations that night. The Constitucion anchored off the Negro on the
11th, entered it next day, found the Paz and Liebre there, and on
the 17th sailed again. Six knots and a-half an hour was the most she
could accomplish under any circumstances, yet her passages were very
good, considering the distance. During June we remained in Maldonado,
employed about the Adventure, and refitting as well as painting our
own ship. Meanwhile Mr. Darwin was living on shore, sometimes at the
village of Maldonado, sometimes making excursions into the country
to a considerable distance; and my own time was fully occupied by
calculations and chart-work, while the officers attended to heaving
down the Adventure. This process, in a place partly exposed to
south-west winds, was extremely tedious, and had it not been for the
great advantages Maldonado and Gorriti offered in other respects, the
situation might have been deemed exceedingly ill-chosen for such a
purpose. Only when there was no swell could we haul her alongside and
heave her down (an operation under any circumstances difficult, as
she was one hundred and seventy tons in burthen, and we were but two
hundred and thirty-five) and many days sometimes intervened on which
no progress could be made. Every morning, at dawn of day, Lieut.
Sulivan and I used to watch the sky most anxiously, in order to know
whether it would be worth while unmooring, and warping the vessels
together, and as the indications we looked for never deceived us, I
will here mention them. Though familiar to all who lead a country or
seafaring life, and often rise before the sun, they may be of use to
others, whose attention has not been drawn to ‘weather wisdom.’
When the first streak of light appeared close to the horizon, and the
sun’s rising was preceded by a glow of faint red, not extending far,
a fine day succeeded, whether the sky were then overcast or clear;
but if the first gleam of light appeared high above the horizon,
behind clouds, and there was much red, not only near the sun, but
visible on clouds even near the zenith, wind, if not rain, was sure
to follow. Between the extremes of course there may be many varieties
of appearance as well as of succeeding weather; but as I have found
such signs followed by similar weather, in most parts of the world,
and as I have often profited by them, with reference to making or
shortening sail, &c.; I do not like to pass over this occasion for
a hint to the inexperienced. I have always found that a high dawn
(explained above) and a very red sky, foretold wind--usually a gale:
that a low dawn and pale sunrise indicated fine weather; that the
sun setting behind a bank of clouds, with a yellow look, was a sign
of wind, if not rain, and that the sun setting in a clear horizon,
glowing with red, was an unfailing indication of a coming fine day.
I have already said (page 50), that hard-edged, oily-looking clouds,
foretell, if they do not accompany wind, and that soft clouds--clouds
which have a watery rather than an oily look--are signs of rain;
and if ragged, or streaky, of wind also. Light foggy clouds,
rising early, often called the ‘pride of the morning,’ are certain
fore-runners of a fine day.
On the 8th of July the Beagle sailed from Maldonado, and anchored off
Monte Video for a few days, waiting for the arrival of a packet from
England. Directly the letters were received she returned to Maldonado.
On the 18th, my survey work being finished, and our help no longer
required at Gorriti, we sailed to sound eastward in the latitude of
the English Bank, and then returned to make a few arrangements with
Lieutenant Wickham, and obtain observations for the chronometers,
previous to making an excursion towards the south.
On the 24th we sailed to Cape San Antonio, and thence along the
coast, close by Cape Corrientes, and skirting the San Blas banks,
till we anchored off the river Negro. There we found the Paz and
Liebre just returned from their examination of those intricacies
which surround the ports between Blanco Bay and San Blas. The Liebre
came out to meet us with a satisfactory report of progress, as well
as health; and, at her return, Mr. Darwin took the opportunity of
going into the river, with the view of crossing overland to Buenos
Ayres, by way of Argentina: after which, he proposed to make a long
excursion from Buenos Ayres into the interior, while the Beagle would
be employed in surveying operations along sea-coasts uninteresting
to him. We then got under sail and began our next employment, which
was sounding about the outer banks off San Blas and Union Bays, and
examining those parts of Ports San Antonio and San José which the Paz
and Liebre had been prevented doing by wind and sea; besides which,
I wished to see them myself, for many reasons, more closely than
hitherto. The accumulation of banks about San Blas, and near, though
southward of the river Colorado, is an object of interest when viewed
in connection with the present position of the mouth of that long,
though not large, river, which traverses the continent from near
Mendoza, and which may have contributed to their formation; at least,
so think geologists. Be this as it may, there is now a mass of banks
extending far to seaward, which make the coast from Blanco Bay to San
Blas extremely dangerous; more particularly, as the adjoining shore
is almost a dead flat, and so low, that in many parts it can only
be seen when the observer is among, or upon, the shoals. The space
between Union Bay and San Blas was very appropriately named by the
Spaniards Bahia Anegada (dried up bay), because it is so shallow,
and the inner parts are rather drowned land than actual water, being
only covered at half tide. Falkner says (p. 77), that a Spanish
vessel was lost in this bay, the crew of which “saved themselves
in one of the boats, and sailing up the river arrived at Mendoza.”
Whether this ship was called ‘Los Cesares’ I am not aware, but as
there is an islet in the ‘Bahia Anegada’ named in the old Spanish
charts, ‘Isla de los Cesares,’ I suspect that such was the fact, and
incline to connect this story with the many rumours of a settlement,
‘de los Cesares,’ somewhere in the interior of Patagonia. Falkner
says, that “the crew saved themselves in one of the boats;”[10]
but there were few Spanish vessels about that coast in the early
part of the eighteenth century whose whole crew could have been
saved in one of their boats.[11] If the remainder had formed even
a temporary encampment about San Blas, or near the river Negro, it
would have been described, with much exaggeration, by Indians of the
west, as well as by those of the East country. A few men might have
been admitted into a tribe of Indians who improved their habits and
dwellings, so far as to have given rise to the curious reports so
much circulated in South America, during the last century and even
in this--of a colony of white people, with houses and gardens, in
the interior of the continent, somewhere about the latitude of forty
degrees; according to some between two ranges of the Cordillera;
others said it was in the plains; but all appeared to think there was
no doubt of the existence of such a settlement.
In Villarino’s Diary of his Exploration of Anegada Bay, I find that
he was much assisted by horses and mules, which he carried on board
his vessels, and landed as often as he had occasion to make a journey
by land. At the river Negro I heard that some of these animals became
so tame, and accustomed to landing and embarkation, that they would
leap quietly into or out of the boats, when required.[12]
On the 19th of August, we anchored near the bar of the Negro, to meet
the Paz and Liebre, take our officers and men on board, and pay Mr.
Harris the money to which he was entitled, not only by contract, but
by the uniform attention, activity, and thorough kindness, which he
and his partner had shown to their temporary companions; by their
knowledge as pilots, and by the useful information which they had
readily given, to the full extent of their abilities. The complete
success of that enterprize was greatly owing to the conduct of those
two worthy men. Before dark all was settled, our party was safely
on board; we quitted Harris and Roberts, with their useful little
craft, mutually satisfied; and made sail for Blanco Bay, where there
was still work to be done; intending to add to our already numerous
soundings, while following the seaward edges of the banks.
On the 24th, we moored off the Wells, in Port Belgrano.
Next day, Lieutenant Sulivan went with a party to explore the
furthest extreme of the inlet, while others were occupied, as usual,
in the various duties always necessary on board a ship, in addition
to those of a survey.
Mr. Darwin was at Argentina, and hearing of our arrival, rode to the
Wells. He had met General Rosas on the Colorado, who treated him very
kindly; and he was enjoying his shore-roving without any annoyance,
the old major being no longer afraid of a ‘naturalista.’
On the 7th of September, we finally left Blanco Bay;[13] but again
sounded along the dangerous banks of Anegada Bay, determined to do
our utmost to prevent vessels from getting ashore there in future,
as many have done already, especially during the blockade of Buenos
Ayres, when several prizes, which had been taken from the Brazilians,
were wrecked and totally lost.
In these surveying trips along-shore we always anchored when we
could, in order to preserve our station and connect triangles; but,
of course, we were often obliged to weigh again at short notice,
during the night; therefore every preparation was made for any
change of wind or weather, and a careful look-out always kept upon
the deep-sea lead (invariably attended throughout the night), as
well as upon the sympiesometer, the sky, and the water. I mention
the deep-sea lead particularly, because however shallow the water
may be, mistakes are often made with the hand-lead, especially at
night, when a tide or current is running, in consequence of the lead
being drifted by the action of the water upon it and the line, and
deceiving even a moderate leadsman; who sometimes thinks the water
much deeper than it really is--sometimes the reverse; and never can
tell exactly, under such circumstances, how a ship is moving over the
ground, or whether she is dragging her anchors.
Off Starve Island we were obliged to weigh in a hurry, one night,
owing to a gale coming on from the south-east, and during the 10th
and 11th, we carried a press of sail, to get off the land; the wind
then drew round by the south, and a succession of baffling weather
ensued, which prevented our doing any thing on the coast, and also
hindered our reaching the Plata until the 16th, on which day we ran
up to Monte Video, and anchored.
On the 18th we weighed, hearing that H.M.S. Snake had brought stores
and letters for us, and was at Maldonado, but had hardly lost sight
of the town, when the Snake hove in sight. Knowing her to be one of
the new build, I altered course, to sail a few miles with her, and
see how much she would beat us; but, to my surprize, she gained on
us but little while running free with a fresh breeze, just carrying
top-mast studding-sails; and I was afterwards told by her officers,
that though she sailed uncommonly well on a wind, and worked to
windward wonderfully, she did nothing remarkable with a flowing
sheet. I did not like her upper works; they ‘tumbled home’ too much
(like some old French corvettes); narrowing her upper deck, giving
less spread to the rigging, and offering a bad form to the stroke
of a heavy sea, whether when plunging her bow into it, or receiving
it a-beam. However good such a form may be for large ships, which
carry two or three tier of guns, I cannot think it advantageous for
flush-decked vessels or small frigates, and am quite certain that
it is bad for boats. I here allude particularly to that ‘tumbling
home’ of the upper works, which some persons approved of a few years
ago. This is not the place, however, for a discussion upon naval
architecture (even if I were qualified to deal with the subject,
which assuredly I am not); but I cannot pass over an opportunity
of adding my mite of praise to the genius and moral courage of Sir
William Symonds and Captain Hayes, who, undeterred by opposition, and
difficulties of every description, have succeeded in infusing (if
the metaphor may be allowed) so large a portion of Arab blood into
the somewhat heavy, though stalwart coursers of our native breed.
Amidst the natural contention of eager candidates for an honourable
position, to which they have been accustomed to aspire, and for
which some are doubtless admirably qualified, it is not surprising
that due credit has not always been given to that originality and
justifiable daring, of which the merits are attested by the Vanguard
and Inconstant. Neither has it always been recollected, however men
may have differed in their opinions of this or that individual, as
a naval architect, that the two best ships built of late years were
constructed by naval officers, self-educated chiefly during the
practice of their profession. I am quite aware, that some of those
eminent architects who have constructed good ships since 1810--Sir
Robert Seppings, Professor Inman, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Fincham,
were very much restricted as to dimensions allowed with respect to
guns to be carried; and that, therefore, no one can pretend to say
what degree of excellence the ships might have attained, had their
architects been unshackled; but taking things as they are--not as
they might have been--to Symonds and Hayes (if not chiefly to the
former) belongs the merit of having improved our navy materially. We
are so apt to forget, during the heat of controversy, that even an
approach to perfection is unattainable, and the utmost any one can
hope for is to have fewer faults than his rivals--that we should not
hastily condemn, in any case, only because we can detect deficiencies
or errors.
Many persons have remarked, that notwithstanding all the competition,
all the trials of sailing, and all the reported improvements,
which have taken place since the peace, our fastest ships have not
excelled some of those built by France, England, or other countries,
during the war. My own knowledge of those ships is only derived
from the descriptions of persons who sailed in or chased them: but
the conclusion I am led to draw from their accounts is that, with
few exceptions,[14] those ships were very slightly built, often
of unseasoned timber, and that their rapid rate of sailing only
lasted so long as their frames would yield to the fluid, and were
not water-sodden. Recently launched, light, and elastic, confined
by few beams, knees, or riders, held together by trunnions more
than by metal, and intended only to sail swiftly--for a short
existence--those greyhound vessels were as different in their
construction from the solid, heavy, durable ships of this day, as a
light, active youth is from a well-set man trained to labour.
A man-of-war requires strength, solidity, capacity; great buoyancy
for supporting her heavy metal, durability, and tenacity; besides
easiness as a sea-boat, and superiority of sailing. Vessels may
easily be built to excel in any of these qualifications; but to
excel in all is the climax, only to be obtained by genius, aided by
extraordinary study and experience.
After running a few miles with the Snake, and finding that she
steered towards Buenos Ayres, we altered our course to resume our
easterly route, and early next morning were anchored alongside the
Adventure.
As it was evident that another month must elapse before the schooner
would be ready for her work, notwithstanding the zealous exertions
of Lieut. Wickham and his crew, I decided to finish myself the
survey, which I had intended he should begin with, namely, of the
south shore of the Plata and a reported bank off Cape Corrientes--and
defer the second visit to Tierra del Fuego until December or
January. Accordingly, the Beagle sailed on the 23d, and after a
close examination of Cape San Antonio and the great mud-bank, called
Tuyu, which lies within it, we went to the neighbourhood of Cape
Corrientes, and there looked about and sounded in every direction,
but could find no shoal. We then returned to the river, and sounded
Sanborombon Bay, laying its shores down on the chart as accurately
as we could, considering that the water was every where so shoal,
that even a boat could not get within half a mile of the land, except
at particular times, for which we could not wait. The distance at
which the Beagle was obliged to keep, varied from four miles to three
(seldom less), and then she was sailing in about a foot more water
than she drew.[15]
On the 6th of October we returned to Maldonado; to prepare for a long
excursion southward, and to hasten the equipment of the Adventure.
By the 19th she was almost ready, so we weighed in company, ran up
the river to water, and on the 21st moored off Monte Video, to take
in our final supplies previous to quitting the River Plata for the
last time. Here, to my surprise, I found people talking about the
English having taken possession of the island of Gorriti, and built
houses upon it. This, I knew, must in some way have arisen out of
the temporary encampment of the Adventure’s crew; and enquiring
further, I found that columns of the Monte Video newspapers had been
filled with discussions on the subject.[16] The local authorities
at Maldonado having been told (incorrectly) that the English had
hoisted British colours upon the island--had repaired several old
buildings--and had erected a house with glass windows, for the
commanding officer’s residence--became alarmed; and as stories seldom
lose by repetition, the good people of Monte Video were soon in
commotion. However, the affair was easily explained; but not without
many a laugh at the absurdity of my little observatory (made of
ninety small pieces of wood, so as to be stowed in a boat), having
‘loomed’ so large. Had our colours ever been displayed on shore,
there might have been some foundation for their alarm; but it so
happened that the only flag that was on the island, at any time
while our party was there, was an old Monte Video (Banda Oriental)
ensign, which belonged to the schooner when I bought her from Mr.
Low. This incident, trifling as it is, may be worth notice, as
showing how necessary it is to be more circumspect and explanatory in
every dealing with a small State, than in similar transactions with
the Authorities of old established governments.
The month of November was passed at Monte Video: laying down
chart-work, computing observations, and writing; procuring and
stowing provisions; painting the vessels outside and blacking their
rigging; and occasionally giving the crews leave to go ashore. Mr.
Darwin returned at the end of the month; and the first week in
December both vessels sailed from the river: but before I go on
with them to Tierra del Fuego and the Falklands, some pages shall
be devoted to the proceedings of our enterprizing and hard-working
labourers, who were employed so zealously during twelve months
without intermission, in the little vessels Paz and Liebre.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The German told me, among other things, that he had collected
rabbit-skins at his leisure hours, and had made, at different times,
above two hundred dollars by them.
[2] It was a positive order on board the Beagle, that no one should
make any excursion, in such places, alone.
[3] Excepting water, of which we only carried six weeks.
[4] Falklands and Tierra del Fuego.
[5] Vol. 1., p. 382.
[6] Bougainville says, “D’autres ossemens enormes, placés bien avant
dans les terres, et que la fureur des flots n’a jamais été capable de
porter si loin, prouvent que la mer a baissé, ou que les terres se
sont elevées.”--Vol. I., pp. 112-113.
[7] Or port, as it has been called, though improperly, because it is
at times almost blocked up by a bar.
[8] They were in Port San Antonio.
[9] Provided that the Commander-in-Chief approved of his doing so--a
sanction which I had no doubt of his receiving.
[10] “In the year 1734, or thereabouts (within how many years after
or before that time?), the masts and part of the hulk were seen,”
(Falkner, p. 77.) The so-called ‘Isla de los Cesares’ is closely
attached to, if not a part of the main land at the west side of
Anegada Bay.
[11] Reports of the Cesares began to be circulated in the early part
of the eighteenth century.
[12] Viedma and other Spaniards were similarly assisted in their
expeditions.
[13] Mr. Darwin had previously departed on his road to Buenos Ayres.
[14] The Malta (Guillaume Tell), Norge, and a few others, were
splendid exceptions, but even in the construction of those ships
far less iron and copper were used than is now customary in vessels
of their class. By substituting so much metal in place of wood,
for knees, braces, and bolts, solidity, strength, and capacity are
acquired in modern ships at the expense, in most instances, of
elasticity, and swift sailing.
[15] The Beagle’s draught of water was eleven feet and a half
forward, and thirteen feet aft, when in ordinary loaded trim.
[16]
“Monte Video, Octubre 22 de 1833.
“El infrascripto Ministro Secretario de Estado en el departamento de
Relaciones Exteriores, tiene órden del Gobierno para dirigirse al Sr.
Cónsul General de S.M.B. y manifestarle, que á consecuencia de varios
sucesos que han tenido lugar en la Isla de Gorriti, donde se halla
la tripulacion de la Escuna de S.M. Adventure, los cuales constan de
los documentos que en copia autorizada se acompañan; y deseoso el
Gobierno de satisfacer la ansiedad publica que han producido aquellos
sucesos, y quitar todo pretexto de interpretaciones, espera que el
Sr. Cónsul tendrá á bien manifestarle los motivos que dieron mérito
á que los individuos pertenecientes á aquel Buque pasasen á la Isla,
como igualmente las causales de su permanencia en ella.
“El Ministro que subscribe reitera al Sr. Cónsul General de S.M.B.
los sentimientos de su mayor consideracion y aprecio.
(Firmado) “FRANCISCO LLAMBI.”
“Monte Video, Octubre 28 de 1803.
“El abajo firmado Cónsul General de S.M.B. cerca de la República
Oriental del Uruguay ha tenido el honor de transmitir al Sr.
Fitz-Roy, comandante de la barca descubridora de S.M.B. Beagle, la
comunicacion y copias inclusas que S. E. el Sr. D. Francisco Llambi,
Ministro Secretario de Negocios Extrangeros le hizó el honor de
dirigirle en 22 del corriente; y el infrascripto se halla autorizado
para decir que ni el 3 de Octubre, de 1833, ni otro dia alguno del
presente año se ha enarbolado o desplegado en la Isla de Gorriti la
Bandera de la nacion Britanica. El 3 de Octubre de 1833, y muchos
días anteriores, la de este Estado fuè izada como un señal para D.
Francisco Aguilar, avisándole que se iva á embiar un bote en busca
de carne y comestibles. La casa de madera con vidriera que se dice
ser habitada por el comandante, es un observatorio portatil hecho en
Inglaterra, que ahora se halla en la Isla de Ratas de este Puerto;
y ninguno de los edificios de la Isla de Gorriti, ha sido reparado
por persona alguna bajo las órdenes del Comandante Fitz-Roy: lo que
el abajo firmado comunica á S. E. saludándole con su particular
consideracion y aprecio.
(Firmado) “TOMAS SAMUEL HOOD.”