_Course from Port Desire, in search of Pepys' Island, and afterwards to
the Coast of Patagonia, with a Description of the Inhabitants._
As soon as we were out of the bay, we steered for Pepys' Island, which
is said to lie in latitude 47°S. Our latitude was now 47°22'S. longitude
65°49' W.; Port Desire bore S. 66° W. distant twenty-three leagues; and
Pepys' Island, according to Halley's chart, E.3/4 N. distant thirty-four
leagues. The variation here was 19°E.
We continued our course the next day with a pleasant gale and fine
weather, so that we began to think that this part of the world was not
wholly without a summer. On the 7th, I found myself much farther to the
northward than I expected, and therefore supposed the ship's way had
been influenced by a current. I had now made eighty degrees easting,
which is the distance from the main at which Pepys' Island is placed in
Halley's chart, but unhappily we have no certain account of the place.
The only person who pretends to have seen it, is Cowley,[15] the account
of whose voyage is now before me; and all he says of its situation is,
that it lies in latitude 47°S.; for he says nothing of its longitude: He
says, indeed, that it has a fine harbour; but he adds, that the wind
blew so hard he could not get into it, and that he therefore stood away
to the southward. At this time I also was steering southward; for the
weather being extremely fine, I could see very far to the northward of
the situation in which it is laid down. As I supposed it must lie to the
eastward of us, if indeed it had any existence, I made the Tamar signal
to spread early in the afternoon; and as the weather continued to be
very clear, we could see, between us, at least twenty leagues. We
steered S.E. by the compass, and at night brought-to, being, by my
account, in latitude 47°18'S. The next morning it blew very hard at N.W.
by N. and I still thought the island might lie to the eastward; I
therefore intended to stand about thirty leagues that way, and if I
found no island, to return into the latitude of 47° again. But a hard
gale coming on, with a great sea, I brought-to about six o'clock in the
evening under the main-sail; and at six o'clock the next morning, the
wind being at W.S.W. we made sail again under our courses to the
northward. I now judged myself to be about sixteen leagues to the
eastward of the track I had run before: Port Desire bore S.80°53'W.
distant ninety-four leagues; and in this situation I saw a great
quantity of rock-weed, and many birds. We continued to stand to the
northward the next day under our courses, with a hard gale from S.W. to
N.W. and a great sea. At night, being in latitude 46° 50' S. I wore
ship, and stood in to the westward again, our ships having spread every
day as far as they could be seen by each other: And on the 11th at noon,
being now certain that there could be no such island as is mentioned by
Cowley, and laid down by Halley under the name of Pepys' Island, I
resolved to stand in for the main, and take in wood and water, of which
both ships were in great want, at the first convenient place I could
find, especially as the season was advancing very fast, and we had no
time to lose. From this time we continued to haul in for the land as the
winds would permit, and kept a look-out for the islands of Sebald de
Wert,[16] which, by all the charts we had on board, could not be far
from our track: A great number of birds were every day about the ship,
and large whales were continually swimming by her. The weather in
general was fine, but very cold, and we all agreed notwithstanding the
hope we had once formed, that the only difference between the middle of
summer here, and the middle of winter in England, lies in the length of
the days. On Saturday the 15th, being in latitude 50°33'S. longitude
66°59'W. we were overtaken about six in the evening by the hardest gale
at S.W. that I was ever in, with a sea still higher than any I had seen
in going round Cape Horn with Lord Anson: I expected every moment that
it would fill us, our ship being much too deep-waisted for such a
voyage: It would have been safest to put before it under our bare poles,
but our stock of fresh water was not sufficient, and I was afraid of
being driven so far off the land as not to be able to recover it before
the whole was exhausted; we therefore lay-to under a balanced mizen, and
shipped many heavy seas, though we found our skreen bulk-heads of
infinite service.
[Footnote 15: For an account of his voyage, and of his supposed
discovery, see vol. x. page 217. It seems impossible to reconcile the
veracity of his narration with the non-existence of the island here
spoken of, which is not now allowed to hold a place in our maps. But the
reader will be better able to form a correct opinion on this subject,
after he has read the 5th Section, where the discovery of Cowley is
pretty fully discussed.--E.]
[Footnote 16: These may be considered the same as what are now called
Falkland's Islands, the name said to have been given them by Captain
Strong, in 1639; but they had been frequently seen before that period,
as by Sir Richard Hawkins in 1594, and Davis in 1592. They have various
other names, and are pretty well known.--E.]
The storm continued with unabated violence the whole night, but about
eight in the morning began to subside. At ten, we made sail under our
courses, and continued to steer for the land till Tuesday the 18th,
when, at four in the morning, we saw it from the mast-head. Our latitude
was now 51°8'S. our longitude 71°4'W. and Cape Virgin Mary, the north
entrance of the Streights of Magellan, bore S. 19°50'W. distant nineteen
leagues. As we had little or no wind, we could not get in with the land
this day; the next morning, however, it being northerly, I stood in to a
deep bay, at the bottom of which there appeared to be a harbour, but I
found it barred, the sea breaking quite from one side of it to the
other; and at low water I could perceive that it was rocky, and almost
all dry: The water was shoal at a good distance from it, and I was in
six fathom before I stood out again. In this place there seemed to be
plenty of fish, and we saw many porpoises swimming after them, that were
as white as snow, with black spots; a very uncommon and beautiful sight.
The land here has the same appearance as about Port Desire, all downs,
without a single tree.
At break of day, on the 20th, we were off Cape Fairweather, which bore
about west at the distance of four leagues, and we had here but thirteen
fathom water, so that it appears necessary to give that cape a good
birth. From this place I ran close on shore to Cape Virgin Mary, but I
found the coast to lie S.S.E. very different from Sir John Narborough's
description, and a long spit of sand running to the southward of the
cape for above a league: In the evening I worked up close to this spit
of sand, having seen many guanicoes feeding in the vallies as we went
along, and a great smoke all the afternoon, about four or five leagues
up the strait, upon the north shore.[17] At this place I came to an
anchor in fifteen fathom water, but the Tamar was so far to leeward,
that she could not fetch the anchoring ground, and therefore kept under
way all night.
[Footnote 17: "At eight we discovered a good deal of smoke issuing from
different quarters, and on our nearer approach, could plainly perceive a
number of people on horseback."]
The next morning, at day-break, I got again under sail, and seeing the
same smoke that I had observed the day before, I stood in for it, and
anchored about two miles from the shore. This is the place where the
crew of the Wager, as they were passing the strait in their boat, after
the loss of the vessel, saw a number of horsemen, who waved what
appeared to be white handkerchiefs, inviting them to come on shore,
which they were very desirous to have done, but it blew so hard that
they were obliged to stand out to sea. Bulkeley, the gunner of the
Wager, who has published some account of her voyage, says, that they
were in doubt whether these people were Europeans who had been
shipwrecked upon the coast, or native inhabitants of the country about
the river Gallagoes. Just as we came to an anchor, I saw with my glass
exactly what was seen by the people in the Wager, a number of horsemen
riding backward and forward, directly abreast of the ship, and waving
somewhat white, as an invitation for us to come on shore. As I was very
desirous to know what these people were, I ordered out my twelve-oared
boat, and went towards the beach, with Mr Marshall, my second
lieutenant, and a party of men, very well armed; Mr Cumming, my first
lieutenant, following in the six-oared cutter.[18] When we came within a
little distance of the shore, we saw, as near as I can guess, about five
hundred people, some on foot, but the greater part on horseback: They
drew up upon a stony spit, which ran a good way into the sea, and upon
which it was very bad landing, for the water was shallow, and the stones
very large. The people on shore kept waving and hallooing, which, as we
understood, were invitations to land; I could not perceive that they had
any weapons among them, however I made signs that they should retire to
a little distance, with which they immediately complied: They continued
to shout with great vociferation, and in a short time we landed, though
not without great difficulty, most of the boat's crew being up to the
middle in water. I drew up my people upon the beach, with my officers at
their head, and gave orders that none of them should move from that
station, till I should either call or beckon to them. I then went
forward alone, towards the Indians, but perceiving that they retired as
I advanced, I made signs that one of them should come near: As it
happened, my signals were understood, and one of them, who afterwards
appeared to be a chief, came towards me: He was of a gigantic stature,
and seemed to realize the tales of monsters in a human shape: He had the
skin of some wild beast thrown over his shoulders, as a Scotch
Highlander wears his plaid, and was painted so as to make the most
hideous appearance I ever beheld: Round one eye was a large circle of
white, a circle of black surrounded the other, and the rest of his face
was streaked with paint of different colours: I did not measure him, but
if I may judge of his height by the proportion of his stature to my own,
it could not be much less than seven feet. When this frightful Colossus
came up, we muttered somewhat to each other as a salutation, and I then
walked with him towards his companions, to whom, as I advanced, I made
signs that they should sit down, and they all readily complied: There
were among them many women, who seemed to be proportionably large; and
few of the men were less than the chief who had come forward to meet me.
I had heard their voices very loud at a distance, and when I came near,
I perceived a good number of very old men, who were chanting some
unintelligible words in the most doleful cadence I ever heard, with an
air of serious solemnity, which inclined me to think that it was a
religious ceremony: They were all painted and clothed nearly in the same
manner; the circles round the two eyes were in no instance of one
colour, but they were not universally black and white, some being white
and red, and some red and black: Their teeth were as white as ivory,
remarkably even and well set; but except the skins, which they wore with
the hair inwards, most of them were naked, a few only having upon their
legs a kind of boot, with a short pointed stick fastened to each heel,
which served as a spur. Having looked round upon these enormous goblins
with no small astonishment, and with some difficulty made those that
were still galloping up sit down with the rest, I took out a quantity of
yellow and white beads, which I distributed among them, and which they
received with very strong expressions of pleasure: I then took out a
whole piece of green silk ribband, and giving the end of it into the
hands of one of them, I made the person that sat next take hold of it,
and so on as far as it would reach: All this while they sat very
quietly, nor did any of those that held the ribband attempt to pull it
from the rest, though I perceived that they were still more delighted
with it than with the beads. While the ribband was thus extended, I took
out a pair of scissars, and cut it between each two of the Indians that
held it, so that I left about a yard in the possession of every one,
which I afterwards tied about their heads, where they suffered it to
remain without so much as touching it while I was with them. Their
peaceable and orderly behaviour on this occasion certainly did them
honour, especially as my presents could not extend to the whole company:
Neither impatience to share the new finery, nor curiosity to gain a
nearer view of me and what I was doing, brought any one of them from the
station that I had allotted him.
[Footnote 18: Now for the goblins, the giants of Patagonia! Some account
of the controversy about them is reserved for another place. In the mean
time the reader may amuse himself with the following notices in addition
to the substance of the text; they are extracted from the account of
this voyage, already referred to in the preceding notes. "On our first
approaching the coast, evident signs of fear appeared among those in the
boat, on seeing men of such enormous size, while some, perhaps to
encourage the rest, observed that these gigantic people were as much
surprised at the sight of our muskets, as we were at seeing them, though
it is highly probable they did not know their use, and had never heard
the report of a gun. But this was sufficient to remind us, that our
fire-arms gave us an advantage much superior to that derived from
height of stature and personal strength."--"The commodore and chief
officers entered upon a short consultation on the propriety of landing.
The first officer, fired with the thoughts of making a full discovery in
regard to these Indians, who have been so much the subject of
conversation among the English, made a motion to approach nearer and
jump on shore; but the commodore objected to it, and would not suffer
any man to go before himself."--"Immediately on our landing, they came
about us to the number of two hundred or more, looking at us with
evident marks of surprise, and smiling, as it should seem, at the great
disproportion of our stature."--"They were so delighted with the
different trinkets, which they had an opportunity of viewing, as they
hung round their necks, and fell down before their bosoms, that the
commodore could scarcely restrain them from caressing him, particularly
the women, whose large and masculine features corresponded with the
enormous size of their bodies. _Their middle stature seemed to be about
8 feet; their extreme 9 and upwards_; though he did not measure them by
_any standard_, and had reason to believe them rather more than
less."--"The commodore himself measures full six feet, and though he
stood on tip-toe, he could but just reach the crown of one of the
Indians' heads, who was not, _by far_, the tallest among them."--"They
seemed particularly pleased with Lieutenant Cumming, on account of his
stature he being 6 feet 2 inches high, and some of them patted him on
the shoulder, but their hands fell with such force, that it affected his
whole frame." The two last paragraphs, with more to the same effect, are
given in a note, and are said to have been communicated by gentlemen who
were present on this occasion. It is right to add that their names are
not mentioned. So much at present for these monsters.--E.]
These people, however, were not wholly strangers to European
commodities, for upon a closer attention, I perceived among them one
woman who had bracelets either of brass, or very pale gold, upon her
arms, and some beads of blue glass, strung upon two long queues of hair,
which being parted at the top, hung down over each shoulder before her:
She was of a most enormous size, and her face was, if possible, more
frightfully painted than the rest. I had a great desire to learn where
she got her beads and bracelets, and enquired by all the signs I could
devise, but found it impossible to make myself understood. One of the
men shewed me the bowl of a tobacco-pipe, which was made of a red earth,
but I soon found that they had no tobacco among them; and this person
made me understand that he wanted some: Upon this I beckoned to my
people, who remained upon the beach, drawn up as I had left them, and,
three or four of them ran forward, imagining that I wanted them. The
Indians, who, as I had observed, kept their eyes almost continually upon
them, no sooner saw some of them advance, than they all rose up with a
great clamour, and were leaving the place, as I supposed to get their
arms, which were probably left at a little distance: To prevent
mischief, therefore, and put an end to the alarm, which had thus
accidentally been spread among them, I ran to meet the people who were,
in consequence of my signal, coming from the beach, and as soon as I was
within hearing I hallooed to them, and told them that I would have only
one come up with all the tobacco that he could collect from the rest. As
soon as the Indians saw this, they recovered from their surprise, and
every one returned to his station, except a very old man, who came up to
me, and sung a long song, which I much regretted my not being able to
understand: Before the song was well finished, Mr Cumming came up with
the tobacco, and I could not but smile at the astonishment which I saw
expressed in his countenance, upon perceiving himself, though six feet
two inches high, become at once a pigmy among giants; for these people
may indeed more properly be called giants than tall men. Of the few
among us who are full six feet high, scarcely any are broad and muscular
in proportion to their stature, but look rather like men of the common
bulk, run up accidentally to an unusual height; and a man who should
measure only six feet two inches, and equally exceed a stout well-set
man of the common stature in breadth and muscle, would strike us rather
as being of a gigantic race, than as an individual accidentally
anomalous; our sensations therefore, upon seeing five hundred people,
the shortest of whom were at least four inches taller, and bulky in
proportion, may be easily imagined. After I had presented the tobacco,
four or five of the chief men came up to me, and, as I understood by the
signs they made, wanted me to mount one of the horses, and go with them
to their habitations, but as it would upon every account have been
imprudent to comply, I made signs in return that I must go back to the
ship; at this they expressed great concern, and sat down in their
stations again. During our pantomimical conference, an old man often
laid his head down upon the stones, and shutting his eyes for about half
a minute, afterwards pointed first to his mouth, and then to the hills,
meaning, as I imagined, that if I would stay with them till the morning
they would furnish me with some provisions, but this offer I was
obliged to decline. When I left them, not one of them offered to follow
us, but as long as I could see them continued to sit quietly in their
places. I observed that they had with them a great number of dogs, with
which I suppose they chase the wild animals which serve them for food.
The horses were not large, nor in good case, yet they appeared to be
nimble and well broken. The bridle was a leathern thong, with a small
piece of wood that served for a bit, and the saddles resembled the pads
that are in use among the country people in England. The women rode
astride, and both men and women without stirrups; yet they galloped
fearlessly over the spit upon which we landed, the stones of which were
large, loose, and slippery.