35 Deg.

40' W. from Greenwich.

- E.]

In January 1684 they bore away for the Straits of Magellan, and on the 28th of that month fell in with the Sebaldine or Falkland islands, in lat. 51 deg. 25' S. Then steering S.W. by W. to the lat. of 53 deg. S. they made the Terra del Fuego. Finding great ripplings near the Straits of Le Maire, they resolved to go round the east end of States Land, as had been done by Captain Sharp in 1681, who first discovered it to be an island, naming it Albemarle island. A prodigious storm came on upon the 14th February, which lasted between a fortnight and three weeks, and drove them into lat. 63 deg. 30' S. This storm was attended by such torrents of rain, that they saved twenty-three barrels of water, besides dressing their victuals all that time in rain water.[150] The weather also was so excessively cold, that they could bear to drink three quarts of burnt brandy a man in twenty-four hours, without being intoxicated.

[Footnote 150: It was discovered by the great navigator Captain Cook, who at one time penetrated to lat. 71 deg. 10' S. that the solid ice found at sea in high southern latitudes affords perfectly fresh water, when the first meltings are thrown away. - E.]

When the storm abated, they steered N.E. being then considerably to the west of Cape Horn, and got again into warm weather. In lat. 40 deg. S. they fell in with an English ship, the Nicholas of London, of 26 guns, commanded by Captain John Eaton, with whom they joined company. They sailed together to the island of Juan Fernandez, where they arrived on the 23d March, and anchored in a bay at the south end of the island in twenty-five fathoms. Captain Watling, who succeeded Captain Sharp, was there in 1680, and named it Queen Catharine's island. At his departure, he accidentally left a Moskito Indian, who still remained, having a gun, a knife, a small flask of powder, and some shot. In this desolate condition, he found it equally hard to provide for his subsistence, and to conceal himself from the Spaniards, who had notice of his being left there, and came several times to take him. He had chosen a pleasant valley for his residence, about half a mile from the coast, where he had erected a very convenient hut, well lined with seal-skins, and had a bed of the same, raised about two feet above the ground. By the help of a flint, he had converted his knife into a saw, with which he had cut the barrel of his gun to pieces, which he fashioned into harpoons, lances, fishing-hooks, and a long knife, by heating them in a fire. All this cost him much labour, but enabled him to live in sufficient comfort. On seeing the ships at sea, he guessed them to be English, and immediately dressed two goats, and a large quantity of cabbage, to entertain them on landing.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 178 of 431
Words from 92642 to 93156 of 224764