Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836. Fitzroy Robert
unwelcome tidings of their deserted state. But as the provisions at San Felipe were insufficient to support all the people, Andres de Viedma, who, after Sarmiento's departure, had assumed the command, detached two hundred soldiers, under the command of Juan Iniguez, back to Jesus, for the purpose of communicating with any ship that might make her appearance, and awaiting the expected return of Sarmiento; but the winter and following summer passed by without any relief.
In this unhappy state, the colonists were obliged to think only of providing for their safety, and built two boats; in which fifty people embarked, besides Viedma, Suarez, a Franciscan friar named Antonio, and five Spanish women. They had not proceeded farther than Point Santa Brigida,30 when one of the boats struck upon a reef, and was lost, but the people were saved. The loss of this boat caused them to give up every hope of saving themselves in that way; and Viedma, with Suarez, the friar, and twenty soldiers, returned in the remaining boat to San Felipe, leaving the rest of the party, consisting of thirty men and five women, to support themselves through the approaching winter as they could. After that season had passed, Viedma sent to collect the wanderers; but fifteen men, and three women only, could be found; the rest having died of hunger and disease. The survivors then determined upon going to the first establishment at Jesus; on their way to which they passed by the skeletons of the two hundred who had been first detached. Travelling onwards, they observed three ships entering the strait, which anchored at a distance to the southward.
During the night, Viedma and his companions kept up large fires, supposing that the ships belonged to their own nation. Next morning a boat was despatched from them; and three of Viedma's party obtained permission to go and reconnoitre her. Having approached near enough, a signal was made; upon which, the people in the boat pulled towards the beach, and said they were from England, bound to Peru, and that if the Spaniards wanted a passage, they had better embark. After some hesitation, arising from the fear of trusting themselves in the power of heretics, they consented; and one was permitted to get in, but the other two were left on the beach. In the boat was the enterprizing Cavendish31 himself, who, on hearing the particulars of their story, sent the other two soldiers to Viedma, offering to take him and the residue of his people on board. Cavendish returned to his ship; but, without further delay, sailed on to the Isla dos Patos (Santa Magdalena Island), where he leisurely salted down six casks of penguins; and then proceeded to San Felipe, for wood and water; he remained there four days (during which time he destroyed the houses of the Spaniards, and embarked six guns); and thence continued his voyage. The person saved by Cavendish, whose name was Tomé Hernandez, afterwards escaped from him at Quintero, near Valparaiso; and, proceeding to Peru, gave an account of the fate of this cruelly neglected colony.
This was the first, and perhaps will be the last, attempt made to occupy a country, offering no encouragement for a human being; a region, where the soil is swampy, cold, and unfit for cultivation, and whose climate is thoroughly cheerless.
The name, San Felipe, ceased with the colony; for Cavendish called it Port Famine, in allusion to the fate of the colonists, all of whom, except the man he took away, and one saved two years afterwards (in 1589), by Andrew Mericke,32 perished from hunger and its attendant diseases; and by this appellation the bay has since been universally known. To commemorate the ill-fated town, a very thickly-wooded mountain at the bottom of the bay, which forms a conspicuous and picturesque object, has been named by us Mount San Felipe.
At this port, Sarmiento, on his first voyage through the Strait, communicated with a large party of Indians, in consequence of which he called it Bahia de la Gente; and the river, which now bears the name of Sedger, he named San Juan. Of this river Sarmiento took formal possession, as well as of the whole Strait, for the 'Mui Poderoso y mui Católico Señor Phelipe Segundo,' &c. &c. It was also here that, in consequence of the miraculous preservation of his vessel on many occasions, he attempted to change the name of the strait to Estrecho de la Madre de Dios; but it had been too long called Magalhaens, for even the influence of Sarmiento, backed by the power of Philip, to persuade the world to countenance so great an injustice.
"Magallanes, Señor, fué el primer hombre
Que abriendo este camino le dió nombre."
During an excursion with Mr. Tarn to Eagle Bay,33 beyond Cape San Isidro, we found many wigwams. They were then novelties to us, and we were ignorant of their being such certain indications of very sheltered places, as subsequent experience has shown them to be. We often used them, after they had been well cleaned out: a boat's sail, thrown over the hemispherical roof, was a sufficient protection from rain; – and from wind they are always well defended by their situation. Here we saw, for the first time, that most remarkable bird the Steamer-duck. Before steam-boats were in general use, this bird was denominated, from its swiftness in skimming over the surface of the water, the 'race-horse,' a name which occurs frequently in Cook's, Byron's, and other voyages. It is a gigantic duck, the largest I have met with. It has the lobated hind-toe, legs placed far backwards, and other characteristics of the oceanic ducks.34 The principal peculiarity of this bird is, the shortness and remarkably small size of the wings, which, not having sufficient power to raise the body, serve only to propel it along, rather than through the water, and are used like the paddles of a steam-vessel. Aided by these and its strong, broad-webbed feet, it moves with astonishing velocity. It would not be an exaggeration to state its speed at from twelve to fifteen miles an hour. The peculiar form of the wing, and the short rigid feathers which cover it, together with the power this bird possesses of remaining a considerable length of time under water, constitute it a striking link between the genera Anas and Aptenodytes. It has been noticed by many former navigators. The largest we found measured forty inches, from the extremity of the bill, to that of the tail, and weighed thirteen pounds; but Captain Cook mentions, in his second voyage, that the weight of one was twenty-nine pounds.35 It is very difficult to kill them, on account of their wariness and thick coat of feathers, which is impenetrable by any thing smaller than swan shot. The flavour of their flesh is so strong and fishy, that at first we killed them solely for specimens. Five or six months, however, on salt provisions, taught many to think such food palatable, and the seamen never lost an opportunity of eating them. I have preferred these ducks to salt-beef, but more as a preventive against scurvy, than from liking their taste.
I am averse to altering names, particularly in natural history, without very good reason, but in this case I do think the name of 'steamer' much more appropriate, and descriptive of the swift paddling motion of these birds, than that of 'race-horse.' I believe, too, the name of 'steamer' is now generally given to it by those who have visited these regions.
Many shells36 were taken from the bottom by means of a fizgig which Mr. Tarn found in one of the wigwams: it was a rough pole, eight or ten feet long, split crosswise at one end, and opened so as to form four prongs, kept apart by two small pieces of wood. Although rudely made, it was excellently adapted for a shell-gatherer, and is used by the Indians for collecting sea-eggs, which are found in the Strait of very large size, and are doubtless, to them, a great delicacy.
During our excursion we ascertained the best place to ascend the snowy mountain, since named 'Tarn;' and the surgeon, whose name it bears, set off with a party of officers to make the attempt, in which he succeeded, and obtained such an extensive view as induced me to decide upon ascending it, a few days afterwards, to procure bearings from the summit, and for the purpose of measuring its height with a barometer.
In the meantime I visited the Sedger river (Sarmiento's 'Rio de San Juan de Posesion'), and found some difficulty in entering it, because of several banks which are dry at low water. Between them, however, the stream keeps a small channel open, by which we effected our purpose. Every gale of wind causes the banks to shift, and between the times of our first, and last, visit to Port Famine, the river's mouth underwent many changes. The bed of the river is so full of fallen trees, that we could not go, with the boat, more than three miles and a half above the entrance; there it was about fifteen yards
From Sarmiento's description of the coast, Point Santa Brigida is the outward point of Nassau Island.(258) See Sarmiento's Voyage, p. 220.
Formerly spelled 'Candish.'
"Near to Port Famine they took on board a Spaniard, who was the only one then remaining alive of the garrison left in the Strait by Sarmiento. The account given by this man, as reported by Magoths, is, that he had lived in those parts six years, and was one of the four hundred men sent thither by the King of Spain in the year 1582, to fortify and inhabit there, to hinder the passage of all strangers that way into the South Sea. But that town (San Felipe) and the other Spanish colony being destroyed by famine, he said he had lived in a house, by himself, a long time, and relieved himself with his caliver(259) until our coming thither." Burney, ii. p. 96. This man died on the voyage to Europe. Id. p. 97.
So named by Bougainville.
It belongs to the group which M. Temminck has lately named
Cook's Second Voyage, 4to. p. 570.
On the shores of Eagle Bay we procured a large collection of shells, among which were