FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS--TIERRA DEL FUEGO--THE STRAITS OF LE MAIRE.
A COUNCIL OF WAR.
The Trial being nearly refitted, which was our principal occupation at
this Bay of St. Julian, and the sole occasion of our stay, the Commodore
thought it necessary, as we were now directly bound for the South Seas
and the enemy's coasts, to regulate the plan of his future operations.
And therefore, on the 24th of February, a signal was made for all
captains, and a council of war was held on board the Centurion. At this
council Mr. Anson proposed that their first attempt, after their arrival
in the South Seas, should be the attack of the town and harbour of
Baldivia, the principal frontier place of the district of Chile. To this
proposition made by the Commodore the council unanimously and readily
agreed; and in consequence of this resolution instructions were given to
the captains of the squadron, by which they were directed in case of
separation to make the best of their way to the island of Nuestra Senora
del Socoro, and to cruise off that island ten days; from whence, if not
joined by the Commodore, they were to proceed and cruise off the harbour
of Baldivia, making the land between the latitudes of 40 degrees and 40
degrees 30 minutes, and taking care to keep to the southward of the port;
and if in fourteen days they were not joined by the rest of the squadron,
they were then to quit this station, and to direct their course to the
island of Juan Fernandez, after which they were to regulate their further
proceedings by their former orders. And as separation of the squadron
might prove of the utmost prejudice to His Majesty's service, each
captain was ordered to give it in charge to the respective officers of
the watch not to keep their ship at a greater distance from the Centurion
than two miles, as they would answer it at their peril; and if any
captain should find his ship beyond the distance specified, he was to
acquaint the Commodore with the name of the officer who had thus
neglected his duty.
These necessary regulations being established, and the Trial sloop
completed, the squadron weighed on Friday, the 27th of February, at seven
in the morning, and stood to sea.
From our departure from St. Julian to the 4th of March we had little
wind, with thick, hazy weather and some rain. On the 4th of March we were
in sight of Cape Virgin Mary,* and not more than six or seven leagues
distant from it. The afternoon of this day was very bright and clear,
with small breezes of wind, inclinable to a calm; and most of the
captains took the opportunity of this favourable weather to pay a visit
to the Commodore.
(*Note. Cape de las Virgenes, the south-eastern extremity of Patagonia at
the entrance to the straits of Magellan.)
We here found, what was constantly verified by all our observations in
these high latitudes,* that fair weather was always of an exceeding short
duration, and that when it was remarkably fine it was a certain presage
of a succeeding storm; for the calm and sunshine of our afternoon ended
in a most turbulent night, the wind freshening from the south-west as the
night came on, and increasing its violence continually till nine in the
morning the next day, when it blew so hard that we were obliged to bring
to with the squadron, and to continue under a reefed mizzen till eleven
at night. Towards midnight, the wind abating, we made sail again; and
steering south, we discovered in the morning for the first time the land
called Tierra del Fuego. This indeed afforded us but a very uncomfortable
prospect, it appearing of a stupendous height, covered everywhere with
snow. As we intended to pass through Straits le Maire next day, we lay to
at night that we might not over shoot them, and took this opportunity to
prepare ourselves for the tempestuous climate we were soon to be engaged
in; with which view we employed ourselves good part of the night in
bending an entire new suit of sails to the yards. At four the next
morning, being the 7th of March, we made sail, and at eight saw the land,
and soon after we began to open the Straits.
THE EVE OF DISASTER.
About ten o'clock, the Pearl and the Trial being ordered to keep ahead of
the squadron, we entered them with fair weather and a brisk gale, and
were hurried through by the rapidity of the tide in about two hours,
though they are between seven and eight leagues in length. As these
Straits are often considered as the boundary between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, and as we presumed we had nothing now before us but an
open sea till we arrived on those opulent coasts where all our hopes and
wishes centred, we could not help flattering ourselves that the greatest
difficulty of our passage was now at an end, and that our most sanguine
dreams were upon the point of being realised, and hence we indulged our
imaginations in those romantic schemes which the fancied possession of
the Chilean gold and Peruvian silver might be conceived to inspire. These
joyous ideas were heightened by the brightness of the sky and the
serenity of the weather, which was indeed most remarkably pleasing; for
though the winter was now advancing apace, yet the morning of this day,
in its brilliancy and mildness, gave place to none we had seen since our
departure from England. Thus animated by these delusions, we traversed
these memorable Straits, ignorant of the dreadful calamities that were
then impending, and just ready to break upon us; ignorant that the time
drew near when the squadron would be separated never to unite again, and
that this day of our passage was the last cheerful day that the greatest
part of us would ever live to enjoy.
(*Note. The Equator is the zero (0 degrees) of latitude. The latitude
becomes higher as one proceeds to the poles (90 degrees).)